New research from the United States shows that strokes are becoming more common among younger adults. Scientists studied people aged 20 to 54 in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. They found that from 1993 to 2020, the number of first-time strokes in this age group almost doubled, going from about 34 cases to 62 cases for every 100,000 people.

The main reason for this increase is a rise in ischemic strokes, which happen when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Researchers also saw that many younger stroke patients had health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, irregular heartbeat (called atrial fibrillation), and drug use.

The most important result of the study is that more young people are surviving strokes now. The percentage of young stroke patients who died within 30 days went down from 11.7% to 9.4%. Still, surviving a stroke can mean living with long-term problems like trouble moving, speaking, or remembering things.