Stroke and TIA: Who Is Affected

Topic Overview

About 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year. About 610,000 are first strokes, and about 185,000 are recurrent strokes:^{footnote 1}

• Stroke is a leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer.
• Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability.
• More women than men have a stroke every year. Because women live longer than men, their lifetime risk of stroke is higher than risk of stroke for men.
• African Americans are more likely than people of other races to have a stroke.

The exact number of people who have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) is not known for certain, because people do not always recognize a TIA. Many people who have had a TIA don't ever see a doctor for it.

Men, African Americans, and Mexican Americans have TIAs more often than women and people of other races.^{footnote 1}