Seven risk factors for stroke can't be changed. Increasing Age - Incidence of stroke is strongly related to age.
Older people have a much greater stroke risk than younger people.
The risk of stroke in people aged 65 to 74 is about 1 percent a year. If they've had a TIA, it increases to 5 to 8 percent a year. Being Male - The incidence of stroke is about 19 percent higher for men than for women. For men under age 65, the difference is even higher. This maybe because African-Americans have a greater incidence of high blood pressure.