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Middle-aged Americans are more likely to die from a stroke than they have been in nearly two decades, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After declining for at least a decade, stroke death rates for people ages 45 to 64 began to rise in 2012. By 2019, stroke death rates in this age group were 7% higher than they had been seven years earlier, and then soared another 12% during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deaths from strokes in this age group fell slightly in 2022, but are still significantly higher than before the pandemic. The new report found that more than 19,700 people aged 45 to 64 will die from stroke in 2022, translating to roughly 24 deaths per 100,000 people in this age group.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death overall in the United States, with most strokes occurring in people over the age of 65. Previous studies have shown that COVID-19 increases the risk of stroke in people of all ages.
But the long-term increase in stroke deaths among middle-aged people contrasts with a downward trend among older people over the past decade, said Sally Curtain, a statistician at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and an author of the new report.
And racial and ethnic disparities in stroke mortality are much larger among middle-aged adults than among older adults, she said: Among those aged 65 and older, black people are 24% more likely to die from stroke than older white people, and among those aged 45 to 64, black people are 133% more likely to die from stroke than white people.
A new report finds that middle-aged men are more likely to die from a stroke than middle-aged women, and stroke deaths are higher in the South than anywhere else.
In 2022, roughly 66 of every 100,000 middle-aged black men living in the South died from stroke, nearly three times the death rate for that age group as a whole.
Experts warn that midlife is a critical time to monitor your health and manage risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
“Many people think of stroke as an older person’s disease, and that’s true: the longer you live, the longer you have risk factors for plaque to build up in your blood vessels,” says vascular neurologist and director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital. But arteries can start to harden in middle age, exacerbating plaque buildup and leading to complications.
“These risk factors are so prevalent in society that we’re seeing them at younger ages. It’s not uncommon now for younger people to suffer a stroke as a result of these comorbid conditions,” said Marsh, who was not involved in the new report. “No one wants to feel old, but taking care of yourself from a young age can really help you thrive in middle age and old age.”
Experts say stroke diagnosis and treatment options have evolved significantly over the past decade, and new ways to address comorbid conditions, such as the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, hold promise for managing risk factors.
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But experts say it’s important that people who have suffered a stroke act quickly and ensure they have equitable access to medical care and treatment.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a stroke is often diagnosed by symptoms such as sudden, severe headache, loss of vision in one or both eyes, difficulty walking, paralysis or numbness in the face or limbs, and inability to speak or understand what others are saying.
Marsh said the young brains of middle-aged adults have a fairly good chance of recovery if treated promptly and aggressively, but people in this age group may be slow to seek treatment because they are less likely to admit they need help.
“It’s really important that people, whether it’s the patient themselves or a family member, recognise the symptoms and get to hospital as soon as possible,” she says. “Those first few hours are crucial.”