Women's Stroke Rates Triple

Strokes have tripled among middle-aged American women in an alarming development experts attribute to obesity. Despite the increased use of blood pressure and cholesterol medication, 2% of women aged 35 to 54 suffered a stroke between 1999 and 2004. That's a three-fold increase over earlier studies.

Women's waistlines are 2 inches larger than they were a decade earlier and women's body mass index and blood sugar levels are also rising. The bulge directly corresponds with the increase in strokes, experts warn. "We need to redefine our textbooks about strokes in women," because they now are at greater risk than middle-aged men, warned a neurologist. (More women stories.)