While experts can’t pinpoint one specific reason for why strokes are increasing in younger adults, high blood pressure is one of the biggest risk factors for intracerebral hemorrhage or ICH strokes, which occur when a blood vessel bleeds in the brain. And ICH strokes are increasing in young people. “People are starting to have higher blood pressure at younger ages, and it’s more poorly controlled, so they’re experiencing the consequences of those cardiovascular risk factors,” Carolyn Cronin, MD, PhD, a neurologist and the medical director of the University of Maryland Young Stroke Center, tells SELF.
Having one risk factor isn’t necessarily going to cause you to have a stroke. But multiple risk factors—including those related to cardiovascular health and the ones that were newly outlined in the 2024 guidelines—can “stack” on top of each other and make one more likely.
Jessica Diaz, a Boston-based barre instructor and certified personal trainer, was shocked when she had a stroke in her 30s. “I had no idea that people at 36 could even have strokes,” Diaz tells SELF. She experienced pain and numbness on one side of her body and the worst headache of her life, but was skeptical when her primary care physician told her to go to the emergency room (though she obliged). While undergoing testing at the hospital, she thought she might be having a migraine or maybe was about to be diagnosed with a brain tumor.
After her stroke, doctors discovered Diaz has a genetic disorder that increases her risk of blood clots and strokes. Being on hormonal birth control on top of that (which she had been taking since she was 16) made her chances of having a stroke even higher. Both of these things were news to her.
Stroke prevention steps to take in your 30s
Some risk factors, like your genetics and age, can’t be changed, Dr. Cronin says, so it’s all about managing the risk factors you can control. And even if you don’t have any additional known risk factors, everyone’s risk increases with age, so “the time for prevention is now,” Dr. Miller adds.
1. Prioritize yourself.
Your 30s are often a busy decade: You might be advancing in your career, buying a home, caring for young children, or assisting aging parents. Which often means you’re putting others first.
During the time she now knows she was having a stroke, Adelekun remembers thinking about what her daughter was going to eat. “I ignored my early symptoms because I had so many other things to do,” she says. “I’m a wife, daughter, and new mom, and I wasn’t thinking of my health because I was juggling all that. But it’s essential to put yourself first. Because if I hadn’t survived, I wouldn’t be here to celebrate any of my daughter’s milestones.”
Dr. Rost sees this often: “[Some] women don’t like to ‘bother’ people, so they don’t seek help,” she says. “[As doctors,] we are never bothered when people show up to the emergency room. We would rather have you come in and get checked out.”
2. Focus on these health-promoting habits.
You’ve probably heard it a thousand times: Eat a Mediterranean-style diet, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, quit smoking if you haven’t yet. These essential habits protect you from all sorts of health problems, including stroke, Dr. Miller says, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to implement or stick with them.
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