The world is experiencing a "startling" increase in the numbers of strokes affecting young adults amid growing affluence, doctors warned today.
In just 20 years the number of cases recorded among people aged between 20 and 64 has increased by a quarter, according to a report in The Lancet.
Researchers warn the number of people affected by stroke may double within the next 20 years.
The study found that stroke affects some 83,000 people under the age of 20 each year around the world – the first time the figure has been estimated.
In 2010, the researchers found that 16.9 million people suffered their first stroke and there were 33 million stroke survivors.
But there were signs of reductions of cases in high income countries.
Researcher Professor Valery Feigin, of AUT University, New Zealand, said today: "The worldwide stroke burden is growing very fast and there is now an urgent need for culturally acceptable and affordable stroke prevention, management and rehabilitation strategies to be developed and implemented worldwide."
Writing for the journal, Maurice Giroud, and other colleagues at Burgundy University, France, say: "Despite some improvements in stroke prevention and management in high-income countries, the growth and ageing of the global population is leading to a rise in the number of young and old patients with stroke.
"Urgent preventive measures and acute stroke care should be promoted in low-income and middle-income countries, and the provision of chronic stroke care should be developed worldwide."
Lancet 24 October 2013 [abstract]
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