What makes a stroke happen? A stroke happens when there is something wrong with the blood flow – a person’s ‘vascular system’.The two major causes of this are:Narrowing, ‘furring’, hardening or weakening of blood vessels (arteries); or

Thickening of the blood

People most likely to have a stroke are people at risk of these conditions, for example, older people and people with certain medical problems, like high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes.Lifestyle factors such as diet, drinking alcohol, smoking and how active you are also affect your risk.Taking steps to change or modify as many of the risk factors as you can will help lower your risk.