In the United States, stroke ranks as the fifth most common cause of death. For adults, it is also a leading cause of impairment.

Anyone at any age can have a stroke. Strokes are particularly dangerous for women. According to the American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of mortality for women, affecting one in five of them.

Strokes, often known as brain attacks, come in two varieties. One is an ischemic stroke, which occurs when a portion of the brain’s blood supply is cut off. When a blood artery, aneurysm, or arteriovenous malformation (an aberrant tangle of blood vessels) in the brain breaks, it causes a hemorrhagic stroke.