Diabetes mellitus - Diabetes is an independent risk factor for stroke and is strongly correlated with high blood pressure. While diabetes is treatable, having it still increases a person's risk of stroke. People with diabetes often also have high cholesterol and are overweight, increasing their risk even more. The carotid arteries in your neck supply blood to your brain. In fact, people with heart problems have more than twice the risk of stroke as those with hearts that work normally.
Heart attack is also the major cause of death among survivors of stroke.
They are strong predictors of stroke. A person who's had one or more TIAs is almost 10 times more likely to have a stroke than someone of the same age and sex who hasn't. The reason is that more red blood cells thicken the blood and make clots more likely. Geographic location - Strokes are more common in the southeastern United States than in other areas. Season and climate - Stroke deaths occur more often during periods of extremely hot or cold temperatures.