Young rates suffering from strokes have been increasing, with a CDC report last year finding a 14.6% increase in people between 18 and 44 years old and a 15.7% increase between the ages of 45 to 64 years.
Even more worrying is that in many cases, these people lack traditional risk factors.
“Up to half or all ischemic stroke accidents in younger adults are unknown causes, and are more common in women,” said Dr. Jukka Putaala, head of the stroke unit in the hospital of the University of Helsinki in Finland and main author of the study.
A new study aimed at what risk factors have the greatest impact, and found a surprising link with a fairly common condition.
The team analyzed 12 traditional risk factors (including as diabetes, smoking and obesity) and 10 non -traditional factors, which include autoimmune diseases, SII, chronic renal disease and migrainine with Aura.
They discovered that each non -traditional risk factor that a patient had increased their risk of stroke by a huge 70%.
It is equally worse for people who also have a common cardiac defect called Ovale patent (PFO), which affects 1 in 4 people. For them, those non -traditional risk factors are more than double their risk of stroke.
And among all those non -traditional risk factors, researchers found that migrainins with Aura were sausage.
“We are aware of the important role of migraine with the aura in this base of the population of patients about the previous knowledge, but we were surprised that it was so deep, especially when it is prevalence and strength of association with the traditional,” Jukka Putaala told Medscape Medical News.
Around 39 million Americans suffer from migrainins, and 20% experience an aura, in which intense headaches are accompanied by sensory problems such as flashing lights and blind spots.
That means that approximately 8 million people in the United States could have a higher risk of stroke due to this condition.
And migrainins in general are more common in women, who represent more than three times more cases than men.
“Why migraine entails a high risk of cryptogenic stroke in young people is a complex question and guarantees additional investigation,” added Putaala, noting that doctors should ask about their migraine history about doctors.
“For effective prevention, the careful and routine evaluation of traditional and non -traditional risk factors in younger people is essential,” he said.
Specific factors of women such as gestational diabetes or pregnancy complications also played an important role, increasing the risk of 70%stroke, regardless of whether the risk was traditional or not traditional.
But before hurrying the doctor because he is seeing bright points or zigzaging lines with his headache, keep in mind that the study has some limitations.
In the first place, it was observational, which means that researchers were reviewing existing data, so they cannot prove the cause and effect, only a correlation.
The findings also depend on self -informed risk factors, which can be unreliable. In addition, the sample of the study was mainly white, which limits how widely the results can be applied to other demographic data.
The strokes are not just for older people
Every year, more than 795,000 Americans suffer a stroke, that is one every 40 seconds. Strokes claim around 140,000 lives in the United States annually, which makes it the fifth main cause of death and an important driver of disability.
While the blows to people over about 65 are still the most common, the number of strokes in younger adults is increasing. Some studies show an increase of up to 15% in recent years.
Doctors have speculated that the increase could be related to poor diets, lack of exercise, growing rates of obesity and an increase in chronic health conditions among younger adults. However, this new study suggests that non -traditional risk factors are also playing a role.
“Recognize specific risks that affect women and those who are not commonly seen … could change our approach to detect these risks and educate our patients through their lives,” said Dr. Tracy E. Madsen, president of the American Association of the Heart Association of the Health Sciences Committee of Cardiology Clinics/Cerebrovascular Accident, who did not participate in the study.
This could have a great impact on improving the results of the stroke, or even the complete prevention issue. Experts estimate that approximately 80% or blows are avoidable with changes in lifestyle and clean management of risk factors.
