A D.C. neurologist explains why a growing number of young adults suffering from strokes, including Grammy-winning musician Donald Glover.
Donald Glover says he suffered from a stroke last year, which forced the Grammy-winning musician to call off his tour.
Glover, who goes by the stage name Childish Gambino, shared news about the health scare over the weekend while on stage at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival in Los Angeles.
Glover is just 42 years old.
The rapper is among a growing group of adults under the age of 50 who are having strokes.
“That’s because we’re also seeing more and more people with what we call ‘vascular risk factors,’” said Dr. Mima Akinsanya, board-certified neurologist and a multiple sclerosis specialist at MedStar Georgetown.
Those risk factors have to do with disorders and diseases that can affect your blood vessels, she said.
“That includes high blood pressure or hypertension, diabetes, or even prediabetes, high cholesterol, obesity,” she said. “All of these things are risk factors for stroke, and we’re seeing them more and more in people, even in their 20s and 30s.”
Strokes are typically seen in those over the age of 65, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research showed they’re becoming more common in young adults. From 2011-2013 to 2020-2022, stroke prevalence jumped 14.6% among young adults aged 18 to 44 years old, according to the CDC.
‘FAST’ — Signs of a stroke
Glover said a health scare made it harder to see while performing a show and caused pain in his head. After his show, when he visited a doctor, Glover said he was told he had a stroke.
“The typical signs for stroke are usually weakness on one side of the body, that can be an arm or a leg, having a facial droop, so one side of your face is drooping, any type of speech difficulty that could be slurred speech or trouble getting your words out,” Akinsanya said.
If you need a tip for remembering those signs, Akinsanya shared the acronym “FAST.”
- F — Facial droop
- A — Arm or leg weakness
- S — Speech changes
- T — Time
If someone appears to be having a stroke, Akinsanya said you should call 911 and get to an emergency room as soon as possible to prevent or minimize damage.
“I hear patients who said, ‘Oh, I thought I could sleep it off, or I wanted to see if I got better.’ And you don’t have that luxury with stroke. You really need to get evaluated as soon as possible,” she said.
The biggest concern with younger adults suffering from strokes, she said, is the potential for the strokes to cause permanent disability.
“If you’re young and you have a stroke that affects one side of the body, and you’re not able to move as much, that can affect your ability to work,” she said. “It can affect your livelihood, your functioning at a young age.”
‘We don’t want it to happen to begin with’
There are steps people can take to decrease the chance of a stroke by preventing “cholesterol and the plaque buildup that can happen in your arteries,” Akinsanya said.
“We don’t want it to happen to begin with,” she added.
For one, make sure you’re eating healthy to keep your blood pressure in a normal range.
“The Mediterranean diet has a lot of really great evidence to help prevent strokes,” Akinsanya said. “That can look like leafy greens, like spinach and kale, salmon, beans and lentils — these type of foods help to prevent high cholesterol and stroke.”
Visits to a primary care doctor can help you monitor your cholesterol.
“Exercising 30 minutes a day has been shown to help prevent stroke as well,” she said. “That can look like jogging, high intensity walking, but just making sure you’re moving.”
Drug use can also increase the likelihood of a stroke.
“Stopping smoking, and even vaping, both of them have been risks to vascular disease that can lead to stroke,” Akinsanya said.
The same goes for substances such as cocaine, methamphetamines and stimulants. Akinsanya said to make sure stimulants are prescribed — and supervised — by a doctor.
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