SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Cleveland Clinic report shows 10 percent of strokes happen in people younger than 50. That might seem like a small percentage, but many young adults assume strokes can't happen at their age.
ABC10 Health Expert Dr. Tom Hopkins said there's a couple of factors in play when a younger person has a stroke. Typically, they are using illicit drugs or they have a genetic pre-disposition like congenital heart disease, sickle cell anemia, or a metabolic problem. They could also have diabetes, smoke, be obese, or have high cholesterol.
Dr. Hopkins said many young people think they're healthy and aren't aware of the signs of a stroke.
"If there's an acute change, a rapid change in speech or cognition that happens, and this could be very short term, something like not being able to get the words out, it could be something that your face droops, or change in the face, or symmetry of the face may be a sign of that," Dr. Hopkins said.
Dr. Hopkins also said people should look out for the following signs:
- Focal weakness, one arm to the other.
- Change of eye movements.
- A dissection or a tear of blood vessels in the brain where that can be a acute headache.
"That's really, really severe, and that can indicate that there's a stroke situation," Dr. Hopkins said.
If you notice these symptoms, call 911 immediately. Dr. Hopkins said you can be saved if you know the signs and act quickly. The longer you take to get help, the more likely you'll be disabled, if you live through it.
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