ALERT: Millennials Are Prime Candidates for Stroke, Too

Who's known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers, born between 1980-2000, totally immersed in a world of digital technology, the largest generation in western history since the1930s, were the number one reason why Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination during the primary season, focus on larger societal needs rather than individual ones, are mostly liberals, favor the legalization of weed and same-sex marriage, are non-religious, impatient, and adventurous?

Answer: Welcome to the world of Millennials. 

Oh. One more thing. More Millennials are having strokes. 

So if you're one of the millennials, put down your damn iPad or iPhone or whatever techie-toy you use and read this f***ing post. If you don't read it, and that goes for parents and relatives and friends of millennials, that's just pure stupidity.

An analysis of Millennial strokes in Scientific American, reported by Dina Fine Maron one month ago, finds this trend differs, depending on where one resides and depicted in the graph below. The South has most; the West has least. Big cities has most; rural areas has least. 

Yes, it's true. A growing body of research indicates strokes among U.S. millennials—ages 18 to 34—have climbed significantly in a little more than the last decade.

The investigation used data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and discovered the hospital stroke victims' discharge data increased from 2003 to 2012.

Furthermore, a study published earlier this year in JAMA Neurology concluded that there was a 32 percent uptick in women stroke survivors in the 18- to 34-year-old range and a 15 percent spike for men in the same range from 2003 to 2012. 

With Scientific American's analysis, they decided to research further to investigate whether the stroke trend differed by areas.

Ralph Sacco, president of the American Academy of Neurology, said, “There has been mounting evidence from different studies suggesting that even though the incidence and mortality of stroke is on the decline, the rates may not be dropping quite as much—and even [may be] increasing—among younger populations. The reasons for these trends are not entirely clear but there are concerns about obesity, diabetes and physical inactivity having a greater impact in younger stroke victims.” Drug use, he said, may be another factor.

MRA of a brain bleed

Moran reported earlier analysis from stroke expert Mary George and colleagues at the Center Disease Control and Prevention found stroke risk factors such as obesity, smoking and hypertension are escalating among younger adults. 

“I think this data is consistent with other data, and so whenever you have replication consistency across different data sets we begin to take it seriously,” Sacco adds. “I think the fact that we see this trend across all regions, and that we see the amount of relative increase for hospitalizations rising for stroke, is alarming.”

In 2012, Dr. Brett Kissela, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, specializes in factors that influence stroke outcome, including diabetes and drug use among the younger adult population. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

"The rising trend found in our study is of great concern for public health because strokes in younger people translate to greater lifetime disability," said Kissela. He added that "younger adults should see a doctor regularly to monitor their overall health and risk for stroke and heart disease.”

That said, if you know any millennials, share this post with them, providing an opportunity for them to stay healthy.  Stroke is a bitch. Take it from somebody who surely knows.