Risk Factors for Stroke Across All Ages
Categories: ACBIS Insider
By Wendy Waldman, B.S.W., CBIST
The majority of risk factors for stroke in younger individuals mirror the risk factors for older adults. These risk factors may be inherited, cardiovascular, unique to gender, lifestyle choices and more in nature.
Some of the inherited causes of stroke in people under age 50 include:
- Congenital heart disease
- Blood clotting disorders
- Sickle cell disease: This risk in younger people is 200x higher than someone without sickle cell disease.
- Metabolic conditions
Some of the risk factors more unique to the female gender may include:
- Use of contraception containing estrogen
- Pregnancy
- Migraine with aura
Some common cardiovascular risk factors include the following:
- Hypertension
- Dyslipidemia
- Diabetes mellitus
- Atrial fibrillation
- Cardiomyopathy
- Valvular heart disease
- Obesity
- Infective endocarditis
There are also common lifestyle risk factors. They may include the following:
- Tobacco use
- Physical inactivity
- Poor diet
- Heavy or heavy-episodic alcohol consumption
- Illicit drug use (methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, etc.)
Citations
George, M. (2020). Risk Factors for Ischemic Stroke in Younger Adults: A Focused Update. www.ahajournals.org. Retrieved 23 May 2022, from https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.119.024156.
Why Are Strokes on the Rise in Younger People?. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/. (2019). Retrieved 23 May 2022, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-are-strokes-on-the-rise-in-younger-people/.