Strokes are occurring more frequently for adults between the ages of 35 and 44. The trend is shocking. Between 2003 and 2012, stroke hospitalizations rose 42 percent for men and 30 percent for women in this young age group. The study, published in JAMA Neurology, gathered hospital billing data and calculated the number of adults under age 65 who were hospitalized for an ischemic stroke from 2003 to 2012. An ischemic stroke occurs when the blood clots and cannot circulate to the brain.

In total, there were at least 30,000 more stroke hospitalizations in 2012 than there were in 2003. Every age group studied is suffering more than ever before. Adults aged 35 to 44 showed the greatest uptick in ischemic stroke and other chronic disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Dr. James Burke, neurology researcher at the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System, stresses the importance of controlling lifestyle factors that lead up to strokes. There’s more to it than just studying risk factors. One has to study the root cause behind these chronic disease risk factors. “So while I wouldn’t rule out an increase in conventional risk factors driving an increase in stroke in the young, if rates are truly going up, my best guess it’s for reasons other than classical risk factors,” said Dr. Burke.

Not just risk factors: chronic diseases indicate cellular environments that are starved of oxygen and nutrients

Chronic diseases are interrelated. They are manifestations of poor lifestyle habits. More specifically, they are the result of nutritionally-starved cells, inefficient mitochondria with low energy output, and toxin-ridden cell membranes made out of saturated fat. Chronic disease is plaguing young adults like never before because cellular health is overlooked, forgotten.

A high blood pressure pill, a steady dose of statin drugs, a popular diet, or some quick fix isn’t going to address this chronic state of disease that has been created over time within the cells of the human body. Lifestyles have become extremely sedentary, dehydrated, void of sunlight, and saturated with bad fats, refined sugars, chemicals, and inflammatory foods. (Related: Read about how Sunlight increases nitric oxide levels, dilating blood vessels.)

Diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity aren’t just risk factors for stroke. They indicate the starvation of cellular environments and the weakness of mitochondria that can’t produce efficient ATP energy. Foods like hawthorn, garlic, beet root, capsicum, and flax seed help nourish the vascular system, dilating blood vessels and helping the blood carry oxygen to the brain. Whole foods such as these are missing from many Western lifestyles. Its nutrient dense, antioxidant-rich, good fat foods that nourish the cellular environment and help build strong body systems. (Related: Read how a 48-year-old man cures high blood pressure with healthy lifestyle changes.)

Hospitalization rates continue to increase: the need to incentivize preventative measures is dire

The study showed that there was a relative increase in hospitalization rates from 20 percent to 40 percent within a decade’s time. U.S. healthcare spending continues to go up, but just because it’s used more frequently doesn’t make it a great product or the best healthcare system in the world. Yes, chronic states of disease that turn deadly can be saved by emergency response teams, but this isn’t a true, sustainable model of healthcare, nor does it address the root problem. Prevention of chronic disease has to become the center focus. If incentives are going to be used in a healthcare system, they should not be given to health insurance companies to bloat the costs further. Prevention should be incentivized. Only when preventative measures are sought will there be a brighter day for healthcare in America. For now, diabetes, heart disease, cancer obesity, and ischemic stroke will continue to overtake the quality of life for many young adults.

We are not truly living longer. We are dying longer and getting poorer because of it.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

JamaNetwork.com