Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

Stroke is a leading cause of death and the most common cause of long-term disability in the USA. Women have a lower incidence of stroke compared with men throughout most of the lifespan which has been ascribed to protective effects of gonadal steroids, most notably estrogen. Due to the lower stroke incidence observed in pre-menopausal women and robust preclinical evidence of neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties of estrogen, researchers have focused on the potential benefits of hormones to reduce ischemic brain injury. However, as women age, they are disproportionately affected by stroke, coincident with the loss of estrogen with menopause. The risk of stroke in elderly women exceeds that of men and it is clear that in some settings estrogen can have pro-inflammatory effects. This review will focus on estrogen and inflammation and its interaction with aging.

Comments

Transl Stroke Res. Author manuscript; available in PMC Dec 24, 2014. Published in final edited form as: Transl Stroke Res. Aug 2013; 4(4): 390–401. Published online Dec 7, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s12975-012-0230-5 PMCID: PMC4275797 NIHMSID: NIHMS641328

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