Strokes in under 45s have risen 15% in a decade, new CDC data show...amid young cancer spike

Stroke cases in people under 45 have risen by almost fifteen percent since 2011, according to a new report from the CDC. 

The increase is almost twice that seen in Americans of all ages, which stands at 7.8 percent, making stroke the fifth leading cause of death in America.

The agency note a simultaneous national increase in those suffering known risk factors for the deadly condition, such as obesity, high blood pressure and drug addiction. 

The findings come amid the alarming surge in cancers among young Americans, which is puzzling doctors.

Cases of the disease in those under 50 have soared by a third over the past 20 years, studies show.

Strokes are a disease that is caused when blood flow to the brain is interrupted, causing swelling and brain tissue death. If left untreated, it can lead to death and severe disability. 

The CDC report found that stroke has increased in people aged 18-64 by around 15 percent by comparing stroke cases from 2011-2013 to stroke cases from 2020-2022. 

This isn't the first report to detect a stroke increase in young people. A 2023 report from the American Heart Association (AHA) found that the rate of stroke in people under 49 has been steadily climbing for the last 30 years. 

The AHA couldn't pinpoint one cause for this phenomenon, but said it's likely due to the fact that young people have been subject to increased stress, a more sedentary lifestyle and more drug use than generations past. 

Conditions that contribute to stroke like obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes are more prevalent in younger people today than they used to be, the report said. 

'The good news is that these are modifiable risk factors. Nobody is destined to have a stroke,' Dr Christopher David Anderson, a Mass General Brigham neurologist, said in response to the AHA study. 

He added: 'treating your other risk factors and taking charge of your health is an effective strategy, and it can prevent stroke risk from taking hold.'

The CDC is working to address this concerning uptick in the condition - which currently costs taxpayers an estimated $56.2 billion annually. 

Conditions like obesity and blood pressure can increase your risk for stroke because they affect how blood moves through your body. 

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A stroke occurs when blood flow to your brain stops - either due to a blood clot or a burst blood vessel. 

Losing blood flow to the brain can cause brain cells to begin to die off. 

If the brain is deprived of oxygenated blood for too long, then you may lose massive sections of this vital organ, leading to death. 

You can survive a stroke and live with damaged brain tissue if doctors treat you early enough. But if you do survive, you might have issues with a whole range of bodily functions - from eating, to walking to talking to thinking. 

This debilitating disease hit over 795,000 Americans in 2021. That represents about one stroke every 40 seconds. 

So it's no surprise that the CDC has been tasked with monitoring this deadly disease.  

The CDC arrived at their conclusions by using data from their annual behavioral risk factor surveillance system (BRFSS). The BRFSS polls Americans annually about a range of health conditions and everyday habits - including stroke. 

By comparing the 1,419,351 people polled from 2011-2013 to the 1,220,972 people polled from 2020-2022, they found that 7.8 percent more people had a stroke. 

In people between 18 and 44, there were 14.7 percent more strokes than there were over a two year period in the early 2010's. In people aged 45 to 64, there were 15.7 percent more stroke cases too. 

This is a particularly disheartening trend because from 2006-2010, stroke cases had actually been on the decline, decreasing by about 2.6 percent. 

The report also found that people who didn't graduate from high school had the biggest increase in stroke cases, rising 18.2 percent.

In addition, black people, Native Americans and non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders were more likely to have a stroke than white people, the report found.

'The health conditions that lead to stroke and strokes themselves are more prevalent in traditionally disenfranchised populations. We are seeing even higher rates in populations of African descent, Hispanic descent, and East Asian populations,' Dr Anderson said.  

The agency attributed these differences to the fact that minorities and people with less education tend to have lower incomes and worse hospital access than white people with advanced degrees.

In response to these findings, the agency underlined a renewed national focus on public health programs to raise awareness about stroke.  

Education about stroke is one of the key ways to interrupt some of the more debilitating parts of the disease, according to the CDC. 

That's because if you catch a stroke early, there are a large range of treatment options that doctors can provide to save your life and prevent you from becoming severely disabled. 

'Advancing focused evidence-based practices and programs for stroke awareness, prevention, and treatment is essential for improving the cerebrovascular health of the nation' the new CDC report said. 

That's evidenced by the fact that though cases of stroke have been rising, the amount of Americans that die from them has been decreasing, Dr Ananth's 2023 study found.