Stroke Is the 3rd Leading Cause of Death for Women. So Where Are They in the Clinical Trials?

By Sunita Sohrabji Jun 15, 2026

Stroke is often a precursor to dementia. Black women are twice as likely to suffer stroke than their white counterparts.

Stroke is the 4th leading cause of death in the overall U.S. population. But it is the 3rd leading cause of death for women, in whom stroke presents differently than it does in men.

According to data from the American Stroke Association, stroke kills 90,000 women each year. One out of 5 women over the age of 55 will suffer a stroke.

Yet as women live longer than ever before, often spending a third of their lives after menopause, researchers are only now beginning to understand how aging, hormones and vascular disease interact to shape long-term brain health. 

“In every decade after 50, women are more likely to experience stroke compared to men, especially severe strokes. This significantly fuels the risk for cognitive impairment, and — eventually — dementia,” said Dr. Farida Sohrabji, head of the Department of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University, where she is also Experimental Therapeutics Director of Women’s Health in the neuroscience program.

Misdiagnosis

Women experience an average two-year delay in diagnosis across hundreds of medical conditions, said Dr. Liisa Galea, Treliving Family Chair in women’s mental health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada, and lead of theWomen’s Health Research Cluster.

“A two-year delay in diagnosis is a huge problem. Earlier interventions are most important for effective outcomes,” she said, in an interview with American Community Media.

Galea added that women who may have suffered a stroke are often misdiagnosed.

“We are still largely treating stroke as a male illness,” said Galea. “You go to the emergency room and you’re sent home. The doctor is saying: ‘No, no, you’re fine.’ That’s going to have more cascading issues for you.”