Causes

What causes a stroke

A stroke can happen to anyone at any age, but your risk may increase if:

you're over 50 years old
you're from a Black or South Asian background
you have sickle cell disease (SCD)
you have an unhealthy lifestyle
you have migraines
you take the combined contraceptive pill
you're pregnant and have pre-eclampsia
you've just had a baby

Certain conditions also increase the risk of stroke. These include:

Reducing the risk of a stroke

If you have a stroke, or a transient ischaemic stroke (TIA, or mini-stroke), you're more at risk of having another stroke. But there are things you can do to lower the risk.

Do

Don't

do not forget to take medicines for any underlying conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes - talk to a GP if you have any problems with your medicine

Find out more about your diet, eating well, exercise and drinking less.

Sexual Health Advice

Throughout this series we have help and advice on staying healthy, dealing with Sexually Transmitted Infections, the risks of each type of the most popular gay sex and what to do if the sex you have is not consentual. The topics covered in this series include:

	This item was in brought to you association with NHS website. Follow the links above for more information and don't forget to check out OutUK's A to Z of Gay Health which features items on everything from relationships, sexual health, mental and physical conditions and how to stay fit. This week our topic is: L - Lung Cancer.
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