Dive Brief:
- Close to 10% of strokes occur in adults between 18 and 50 years old and ischemic strokes caused by blocked blood vessels, are rapidly increasing in adults under age 50.
- Risk factors include diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, being overweight and smoking.
- A national survey by CDC showed 3% of ischemic stroke victims between 15 and 34 years old were obese in 1995 but by 2007 9% were obese.
Dive Insight:
One of the authors of that survey, Dr. Mary George, a senior medical officer with the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke, said obese individuals are at higher risk for high blood pressure - the leading risk factor for stroke. "One in three men in that age group had hypertension. That's very high," she told NPR Shots.
Dr. Amytis Towfighi, a vascular neurologist at the University of Southern California (USC) told NPR the average age of stroke patients is 56 at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. When a younger person has a stroke, explained Dr. Towfighi, it often leads to depression. In addition, the stroke affects the entire family, since the family loses a breadwinner, she added.
The UK is also seeing an increase in strokes among people between 20 and 64 - data from NHS showed hospital admissions for stroke jumped 25% between 2000 and 2014, according to The Guardian.