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 "A stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), occurs when blood supply to part of the brain is disrupted, causing brain cells to die. Blood flow can be compromised by a variety of mechanisms," Medicinenet reports.

The cause for a stroke can range anywhere between smoking to stress, and now, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Stroke, It can predicted by the marital state of your parents.

Men with divorced parents are significantly more likely to suffer a stroke than men from intact families, says a report by the University of Toronto.

According to the study, "adult men who had experienced parental divorce before they turned 18 are three times more likely to suffer a stroke than men whose parents did not divorce. Women from divorced families, however, did not have a higher risk of stroke than women from non-divorced household.

The authors express great consternation in light of the fact that they excluded exposure to any form of family violence or parental addictions.

And even after adjusting for some of the known risk factors for stroke including age, race, income and education, adult health behaviors (smoking, exercise, obesity, and alcohol use) social support, mental health status and health care coverage, "parental divorce was still associated with a threefold risk of stroke among males," explains University of Toronto recent graduate and co-author Angela Dalton.

Though researchers are not entirely sure why parental divorce would be such a significant causal factor for stroke risks but they have ideas.

Dalton explains that the elevated rate of stroke could be linked to a process known as biological embedding. "It is possible that exposure to the stress of parental divorce may have biological implications that change the way these boys react to stress for the rest of their lives," says Fuller-Thomson."

Researchers intend to do more studies to try and replicate findings before making any conclusive evaluations.

According to the According to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the five major signs of stroke are the sudden onset of:

1.      Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body. The loss of voluntary movement and/or sensation may be complete or partial.

2.      Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding. Sometimes weakness in the muscles of the face can cause drooling.

3.      Trouble seeing in one or both eyes

4.      Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination

5.      Severe sudden headache with no known cause