Strokes in young adults: epidemiology and prevention

Strokes in young adults are reported as being uncommon, comprising 10%-15% of all stroke patients. However, compared with stroke in older adults, stroke in the young has a disproportionately large economic impact by leaving victims disabled before their most productive years. Recent publications rep...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vascular health and risk management Vol. 11; no. default; pp. 157 - 164
Main Author: Smajlovic, Dzevdet
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2015
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Dove Press
Dove Medical Press
Subjects:
Adult
age
Age Factors
cerebrovascular diseases
Disease age factors
Epidemiology
etiology
Health risk assessment
Humans
Incidence
management
Metabolic disorders
Methods
Middle Aged
Mortality
Observations
Prevalence
Prevention
Preventive medicine
Primary Prevention - methods
Recurrence
Review
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Risk Reduction Behavior
Secondary Prevention - methods
Stroke
Stroke - diagnosis
Stroke - epidemiology
Stroke - mortality
Stroke - prevention & control
Systematic review
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome
China
Bosnia-Hercegovina
risk factors
cerebrovascular diseases
management
incidence
age
etiology
ISSN:1178-2048, 1176-6344, 1178-2048
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Strokes in young adults are reported as being uncommon, comprising 10%-15% of all stroke patients. However, compared with stroke in older adults, stroke in the young has a disproportionately large economic impact by leaving victims disabled before their most productive years. Recent publications report an increased incidence of stroke in young adults. This is important given the fact that younger stroke patients have a clearly increased risk of death compared with the general population. The prevalence of standard modifiable vascular risk factors in young stroke patients is different from that in older patients. Modifiable risk factors for stroke, such as dyslipidemia, smoking, and hypertension, are highly prevalent in the young stroke population, with no significant difference in geographic, climatic, nutritional, lifestyle, or genetic diversity. The list of potential stroke etiologies among young adults is extensive. Strokes of undetermined and of other determined etiology are the most common types among young patients according to TOAST (Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) criteria. Prevention is the primary treatment strategy aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality related to stroke. Therefore, primary prevention is very important with regard to stroke in young adults, and aggressive treatment of risk factors for stroke, such as hypertension, smoking, and dyslipidemia, is essential. The best form of secondary stroke prevention is directed toward stroke etiology as well as treatment of additional risk factors. However, there is a lack of specific recommendations and guidelines for stroke management in young adults. In conclusion, strokes in young adults are a major public health problem and further research, with standardized methodology, is needed in order to give us more precise epidemiologic data. Given the increasing incidence of stroke in the young, there is an objective need for more research in order to reduce this burden.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ObjectType-Review-3
content type line 23
ISSN:1178-2048
1176-6344
1178-2048
DOI:10.2147/VHRM.S53203