The Irish Heart Foundation is urging women to be extra vigilant of the warning signs of stroke ahead of National Stroke Week.
Provisional figures released by the Central Statistics Office showed 42 per cent more women than men died of stroke in Ireland during 2013.
In total 1,174 women died in 2013 out of a national total of 2,001 stroke-related deaths.
According to the foundation, the main reason more women die from stroke is that they live longer than men, resulting in a greater likelihood of being affected by the disease.
Atrial fibrillation
Other factors are also at play such as the higher risk of stroke in women with atrial fibrillation than men with the same condition.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat and is associated with strokes that are more severe and more likely to be fatal.
In Counties such as Carlow, Clare, Offaly, Monaghan, Roscommon and Sligo, the difference was even higher, with stroke-related mortality among women close to or exceeding double the rates of men.
In Laois the rate was almost three times higher.
Kilkenny and Leitrim were the only two counties that had higher mortality among men.
Irish Heart Foundation head of advocacy Chris Macey said stroke is Ireland’s third biggest killer disease.
Call ambulance
He said people should be aware of the symptoms and understand that the only response when the condition strikes is to call an ambulance immediately.
Mr Macey said stroke kills almost twice as many women as breast cancer in Ireland and called on women to be aware of the “FAST” warning signs.
The FAST acronym stands for: Face - has the person’s face fallen on one side?
Arms: can they raise both arms and keep them there? Speech: is their speech slurred? Time: time to call 999 if you see any one of these signs.
Lifestyle changes such as drinking in moderation, not smoking, being more active and improving diet can have a dramatic impact on lowering stroke risk.
The foundation said it is estimated 40 per cent of strokes could be prevented through better control of blood pressure.