A new study reveals a startling trend in U.S. public health: stroke – a condition usually associated with older people – is striking those between the ages of 35 and 39 at more than twice the previous rate.
“People, especially those under 50, need to realize that stroke does not just occur in the old, and the outcome can be much more debilitating than a heart attack – leaving you living for another 30 to 50 years with a physical disability,” said Joel N. Swerdel, M.S., M.P.H., lead study author and a Ph.D. candidate at the Rutgers University School of Public Health in New Brunswick, New Jersey.