Middle-Aged Americans See Rise in Stroke Deaths

In their most recent report, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted the disquieting trend: an increase in stroke deaths among Americans aged 45-64. The stroke death rate in the middle-aged demographic declined for more than a decade before beginning to rise in 2012. The trend further expedited during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, cultivating a significant public health issue of middle-aged people.

In 2022, more than 19,700 individuals of this age group died of strokes, making up a significant part of the whole of stroke mortality. Moreover, as the pandemic put an emphasis on these figures, the results of various researches. All of the figures greatly contrast with the steady decline within the older population, thus implying that younger adults possess unique health challenges.

Johns Hopkins Bayview Dr. Elisabeth Breese Marsh added that one has to manage his cardiovascular and stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, from a younger age to diminish the chances of a middle-aged stroke. The report also noted several racial disparities, highlighting that the middle-aged Black men living in the South are the most vulnerable victims, with their stroke death rates accounting for nearly three-quarters of the whole age group’s rates.