Younger Stroke Victims

Although we are winning the battle against strokes, one age group is having more strokes than ever before.

It looks like more people are having strokes at a younger age and that means more years dealing with its after effects.

Strokes, like heart attacks, are usually something we worry about as we get older. But a new study, just published by the American Academy of Neurology, has found that one-in-five stroke victims are now under the age of 55. And in the words of the "Stroke Association," these new numbers are alarming.

This study looked at more 1 million people here in the U.S. Researchers found that 19% of them, or nearly one-in-five, had a stroke in 2005. That's a large increase from the slightly more than one-in-10 having them back in 1993.

Although they aren't sure exactly why this is happening, stroke experts think it could have to do with the similar increase we are seeing in obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol in this same age group. And having a stroke this young can cause more lifetime disability.

More research is going into trying to figure out what is exactly behind these numbers, but keeping healthy, by eating right, exercising and controlling your blood pressure and cholesterol can be your best defense against having a stroke yourself.