Strokes among adults ages 20 to 54 nearly doubled over 27 years in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region, according to a study published Sept. 23 in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The rate climbed from 33.9 cases per 100,000 person-years in 1993-1994 to 62.2 in 2020. Almost all of that rise came from ischemic strokes, the type caused by a blocked blood vessel.
The finding comes with an important limit. The research tracked one U.S. region, and the authors say it cannot show what caused the increase. It documents a trend, not a reason.
