Stroke Symptoms Differ In Women, Men

Women Less Likely To Report Classic Symptoms And Get Crucial Stroke Drug Prescribed, Research Shows

(WebMD)  Female stroke victims are less likely to report classic stroke symptoms than men — one possible explanation for why they aren't as likely to get a crucial stroke drug.

The new research found that female stroke victims are 33 percent less likely to report a classic stroke symptom when they arrive at the emergency room than their male counterparts.

The finding comes at a time when research shows women who suffer strokes are much less likely to be given the clot-busting drug tPA than men, notes researcher Julia Warner Gargano, M.S., an epidemiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

The most common type of stroke, an ischemic stroke, occurs when blood flow to an area of the brain is compromised by a blood clot. This leads to the death of brain cells and brain damage.

"It's a quandary," says American Stroke Association spokesman Larry Goldstein, M.D., a neurologist at Duke University who was not involved with the work. "Women tend to have more symptoms that are very vague, so it's hard to ascribe them to stroke. And if it's not promptly diagnosed as stroke, it won't be treated as a stroke," he tells WebMD.

"If a woman tends to have a lot of headaches and she comes in with another headache, why would you even begin to think it's a stroke?" Goldstein asks.

Gargano's study was presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2007.

For the study, researchers reviewed the records of 1,724 people who were ultimately confirmed to have had a stroke. Nine percent of the men and 13 percent of the women did not report any of the five classic stroke warning signs: sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side; sudden confusion or trouble speaking; sudden trouble seeing; difficulty walking, dizziness or loss of balance; or a sudden severe headache with no known cause.

The most common complaints among women without any of the five warning signs: loss of consciousness or fainting, difficulty breathing, pain, and seizures.

Gargano says additional research is needed to determine if the uncharacteristic symptoms explain why women experience treatment delays.

According to the American Stroke Association, 373,000 women suffered a stroke in 2004 vs. 327,000 men; 91,487 women died of a stroke that year compared to 58,660 men.

Also at the meeting, Los Angeles researchers reported that women aged 45 to 54 are twice as likely to report having had a stroke than men.

The reason: A high rate of stroke risk factors — including plaque-clogged arteries leading to the brain, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tummy fat — among women, says researcher Amytis Towfighi, M.D., of the UCLA Stroke Center.

"Less than half of women knew what healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels are, and less than half knew their own reading," she says. Making matters worse: Health care practitioners also underestimated women's risk factors, she says.

"The more women learn about the warning signs, symptoms, and treatment of stroke, the more they can help themselves, Towfighi tells WebMD.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics on more than 15,000 adults between 1999 and 2002.

SOURCES: International Stroke Conference, Feb. 7-9, 2007, San Francisco. Julia Warner Gargano, M.S., Michigan State University, East Lansing. Larry Goldstein, M.D., department of neurology, Duke University; spokesman, American Stroke Association. Amytis Towfighi, M.D., UCLA Stroke Center. American Heart Association: "Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics — 2007 Update."

[pat-n-donna]

The argument that women do not report symptoms because they are less likely to receive the drug is improperly formed. It would be more logically consistent to say that women are less likely to receive the drug because they do not report stroke symptoms. To say that not receiving a drug somehow prevents women from reporting stroke symptoms is to imply that the drug has some effect that I%u2019m sure the manufacturer does not realize. We have an interesting causal argument here.

[pat-n-donna]

Upon further thought; the argument made here may require women that are having strokes to somehow know beforehand that they are not going to receive the drug. In light of this fact, women may not see any point to reporting the symptoms of a stroke. The argument, as presented, still does not make much sense to me.

[migrainegram]

Pat-n-Donna

1. Men have the classic (textbook)symptoms of a stroke.
2. Therefore it is diagnosed faster and they received the medicine (clot busting drug) sooner.
3.Women do not show the same (textbook) symptoms as men.
4.It takes longer to diagnose a stroke so women do not receive the medicine (clot busting drug) as quickly.

[Kitty I]

Women are the "new improved model" of human being and have more bells and whistles than the older, more basic male model. Therefore, they have more to go wrong with them. Women in general go to the doctor more frequently than men. Women are much more likely to be ignored, dismissed, and their symptoms "there, there"'d by health care personnel. This I know.

[Kitty I]

I also know doctors and their staffs often become impatient with women whom they think are "wasting their time" with trivial complaints; but, more importantly and less often revealed to the public, they can become very discourage and frustrated. Healthcare professionals do not like to feel like they are impotent to help their patients, but they are not God. Patients hold half of the answers to their cure. The public needs to know how to accuately describe what is happening to them to be "heard" correctly.

Your article could have helped bridge this communication gap between professionals and consumers had it delineated the "classic" and "female" symptoms of stroke (Do the health care professionals know yet what these "female" symptoms are so they can recognize them as stroke symptoms when women speak to them in these terms?)

[pat-n-donna]

Migrainegram,

All of what you said may be true, but that does not go to the fact of what this article is saying. This article reports that strokes in women go unreported BECAUSE they are less likely to get the clot busting drug. That simply makes no sense. It should read something along the line that women do not get the drug because they have strokes that go unreported. In logic A + B = C is not always the same as B A = C.

[pat-n-donna]

The last line in my last post should read: In logic A+B=C is not always the same as B A=C.

[pat-n-donna]

In logic, A PLUS B EQUALS C is not always the same as B PLUS A EQUALS C.

This forum software appears to not like certain characters.

[cmp271]

Women have never been taken seriously by the medical professionals, it is time to hold them accountable. We have different heart attack symptoms too, and it isn't just due to menopause.

Women have to speak up more to be heard, say it louder to the useless Doctor. I go to a useless female NP at the VA, I know more than she does. Why can't I see a DR, because I'm a female veteran and the VA is biased against us.