Stroke is no longer a condition of old age. More and more young adults are suffering a stroke; this seems to be from lifestyle habits.
Do you have any stroke risk lifestyle habits?
Strokes are becoming more common among younger adults, according to research covering nearly 30 years of medical records.
Although more patients are surviving strokes than in the past, the rising number of cases means more people may face long-term disabilities at a younger age.
The study, published in Neurology (Sept. 2026), examined stroke cases in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky from 1993 through 2020.
Researchers identified 2,076 adults 20 to 54 who experienced their first stroke during that period.
- In 1993-1994, younger adults experienced 33.9 strokes per 100,000 person-years.
- By 2020, that rate had climbed to 62.2, an increase of about 83%.
Person-years account for both the number of people studied and how long they were followed, allowing researchers to compare stroke rates across different periods.
The increase was largely driven by ischemic strokes, which occur when a blood clot or another blockage cuts off blood flow to part of the brain.
Ischemic stroke rates among younger adults rose from 23.8 per 100,000 person-years in 1993-1994 to 47.3 in 2020, nearly doubling.
Researchers didn’t find similar increases in two types of bleeding strokes: intracerebral hemorrhage, which involves bleeding inside the brain, and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which occurs in the space surrounding the brain.
Health Conditions and Substance Use Became More Common
The study found that several potential stroke risk factors increased among younger adults who experienced strokes.
These included high blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation and substance use.
Atrial fibrillation causes an irregular heartbeat that can allow blood clots to form.
If a clot travels to the brain and blocks a blood vessel, it can cause an ischemic stroke.
Substance use showed one of the largest changes. The percentage of younger stroke patients with documented substance use increased from 4.6% in 1993-1994 to 40.2% in 2020. Much was associated with marijuana use.
However, the researchers could not determine whether substance use or the other changing risk factors caused stroke rates to rise.
They lacked comparable health data from people who had not experienced strokes, limiting their ability to assess the contribution of each factor.
More Younger Adults Are Surviving Strokes
After adjusting for age, race and gender, researchers found that the percentage of patients who died within 30 days of a stroke fell from 11.7% in 1993-1994 to 9.4% in 2020.
The improvement was particularly noticeable among people who experienced bleeding strokes.
Survival, however, doesn’t always mean a full recovery. Brain damage from a stroke can cause lasting problems with movement, speech, memory and other abilities.
Early Stroke Prevention
Emily R. Fisher, MD, of the University of Cincinnati, who led the study, emphasizes the need to identify and manage stroke risk factors earlier in adulthood.
High blood pressure, diabetes and certain heart conditions are important issues to address because they can contribute to stroke risk.
- Don’t smoke
- Limit alcohol
- Don’t use illegal substances
- Avoid pot, even if it’s legal in your state
- Aim for a healthy body weight
- Get your blood pressure checked regularly
- Limit processed foods, control sodium intake
- Commit to an exercise regimen
The investigation says more studies are needed to explain why strokes have become more common among younger adults and how the trend might be reversed.
