Young stroke patients increase

true or false?

Stroke rates have been declining in older people during the past 20 years — but have sharply increased in those under 55.

Researchers at Rutgers University used data from the New Jersey Department of Health on more than 227,000 hospitalisations for stroke from 1995 through 2014, calculating incidence by age over five-year periods. The findings appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Compared with the 1995-99 period, the rate of stroke in 2010-14 increased by 147% in people ages 35-39, by 101% in people 40-44, by 68% in those 45-49, and by 23% in the 50-54 group.

Stroke is still far more common in older people. But the rate decreased by 11% in those 55-59, by 22% in the 60-64 group, and by 18% in people 65-69.

The reasons are unclear, but the lead author, Joel N Swerdel, now an epidemiologist with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said that increasing obesity and diabetes in younger people are probably involved.

“For a person 30 to 50, the good news is you ain’t dead yet,” he said. “With behavioural changes, changing diet, increasing exercise, there’s still hope for you. Behavioural change is hard, but this study is an early warning sign.”