2015. There are two major types of stroke: hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke. Hemorrhagic stroke is rare, and women have a higher incidence of a specific subtype of hemorrhagic stroke (subarachnoid hemorrhages) as compared to men. Estrogen treatment does not affect the risk for hemorrhagic stroke, although estrogen treatment in animal models reduces brain damage and mortality in males and females. Ischemic stroke is the most common stroke and occurs mostly in the aging population. Among the aged, ischemic stroke occurs more in women than men, and women have longer hospitalization and increased mortality. In menopausal women, estrogen increases the risk for ischemic stroke. In animal models, estrogen treatment reduces infarct volume and improves outcomes in young females and males, but its effect on older females is ambiguous. Finally, this chapter also describes emerging data on sex-specific stroke therapies and the development of new sex-specific stroke guidelines.
