Stroke In Young Adults: 5 Reasons Why You Might Be At Risk Before Turning 50

Luke Perry's death due to stroke has raised plenty of questions about how somebody so young, at only 52 years old, can suffer from the disease. Stroke is often seen as an illness for older people, with almost 75 percent of cases occurring in individuals aged 65 years and up. However, stroke is not exclusive to the old and can happen to anybody at any age. According to Stroke Center, around 25 percent of cases involve those under the age of 65.

Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also show that there are nearly five stroke cases for every 100,000 children between birth to 19 years old. Among those under the age of 45, about seven to 15 for every 100,000 are affected.

Stroke has different forms, though all of them are characterized by a decrease in blood supply to the brain. Ischemic stroke is the most common, and it is typically caused by a clot in the blood vessels in the brain or outside of it that affects the said vessels. There are several reasons why people under 50 are more prone to having stroke than others.

1. Smoking and consumption of alcohol and drugs

2. High cholesterol and blood pressure

3. Diabetes

4. Lack of exercise and poor diet

5. Obesity

While the risk factors for stroke are clearly the same across ages, the main difference between those who are young and old is the ability to recover. Stroke that occurs in the young can mean having to contend with the ill effects of the condition throughout one’s lifetime, thus causing the loss of many otherwise productive years. Still, having it at 30 gives one a better and faster chance of bouncing back to normalcy compared to an 80-year-old who just suffered it.