Increase Of Strokes In Young Adults

Last December, one of my colleagues needed to take urgent leave to go to Taiwan. He found out that his 36 year old brother had a suspected stroke and their whole family went to Taiwan to be with him.

I was shocked as his brother seemed relatively young to suffer a stroke (although I remember while still working in the hospital my youngest stroke patient was just 29 years young). The same colleague mentioned that at least four other friends younger than his brother also had a stroke!

Though it may seem shocking to you for such a young person to experience a stroke, evidence shows that this is becoming more common in young adults.

An article published in JAMA Neurology found that the number of men aged between 35 to 44 hospitalized for stroke increased by a staggering 42 percent when they compared 2003-2004 to 2011-2012.

It seems to be more common among males (41 percent versus 30 percent for females). The authors found significant increased risk of getting a stroke if you are diabetic, have hypertension, heart disease, smoking cigarettes currently and long term alcohol consumption.

The majority of the above listed factors are definitely easily modified, correctable or can be stopped. So prevention strategies definitely have the potential to reduce the impact of stroke in this young age group.

I'd add that exercising will definitely reduce your risk too.


Reference

George MG, Tong X and Bowman BA (2017). Prevalence Of Cardiovascular Risk Factors And Risk Factors And Strokes in Younger Adults. Jama Neurol. 74(6): 695-703. DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.0020.

All 5 Former Marlboro Men Are Gone

Picture by AP

I'll definitely miss Amoy Street, but NOT the smokers that sometimes stand along the five foot way outside our clinic to smoke.

Perhaps this will give them some incentive to quit.

All five actors who portrayed the iconic cowboy died from smoking. Eric Lawson, the fifth former Marlboro Man (from 1978-1981) passed away at age 72 on January 10 this year from respiratory failure caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He had smoked since age 14!

David Millar (1950's) died of emphysema in 1987. Wayne McLaren (age 51) died in 1992 after a battle with lung cancer. Davie McLean and Richard Hammer who both played Marlboro Men in the 1970's died from lung cancer in the mid 1990's.

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*Picture from Flickr.com