Strokes are caused by blood clots or bleeds to the brain and can lead to long-lasting disability.<\/p>\n
The majority occur in people aged over 65, but this report suggests growing numbers of younger people are at risk.<\/p>\n
Experts analysed national hospital admission data spanning 2000 to 2014.<\/p>\n
Trends for people in their 40s and early 50s appeared to be getting worse.<\/p>\n
In women aged 40-54, there were an extra 1,075 strokes recorded in 2014, compared with 2000.<\/p>\n
Experts said growing obesity levels, sedentary lives and unhealthy diets – which raise the risks of dangerous blood clots – all played a part.<\/p>\n
And they argued strokes among this age group had long-lasting personal and financial impacts on individuals and their families, as well as on the economy.<\/p>\n
Recovering patients can find it difficult to return to work and should have more support from employers, the report suggests.<\/p>\n Jon Barrick, of the Stroke Association, said: “These figures show stroke can no longer be seen as a disease of older people.<\/p>\n “There is an alarming increase in the numbers of people having a stroke in working age.<\/p>\n “This comes at a huge cost, not only to the individual, but also to their families and to health and social care services.”<\/p>\n ‘Complex picture’<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Mike Knapton, at the British Heart Foundation charity, said the increase in stroke rates among younger men and women was worrying and needed to be taken seriously.<\/p>\n “These findings also highlight the importance of ensuring your blood pressure and cholesterol are under control, as well as having a health check at the age of 40,” he said.<\/p>\n “Although there is an increase in sedentary activity and obesity levels now, it is only part of this complex picture.”<\/p>\n Figures also rose sharply in people over 90 years of age, partly as a result of individuals living longer, experts said.<\/p>\n Another reason that may contribute to the overall trend is the increasing public awareness of the symptoms of strokes.<\/p>\n And advances in medical treatment have also led to changes in hospital admission policies over the last 15 years.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There has been an “alarming” rise in the number of working-age men and women having strokes, a charity has warned. In England in 2014 there were 6,221 hospital admissions for men aged 40-54 – a rise of 1,961 on 14 years earlier, a Stroke Association study shows. Experts said unhealthy lifestyles were partly to blame […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":115473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[15],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Hospital](\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/media\/images\/82287000\/jpg\/_82287947_hospital_getty.jpg\")
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