Women aged 35 and under are at greater risk of ischemic stroke than their male counterparts, a new study has revealed.
In a review of 16 international studies on sex differences in stroke occurrence, young women were found to be 44 per cent more likely to experience ischemic stroke.
The research included a combined total of 69,793 young adults with stroke (33,775 women and 36,018 men), from countries including the US, Canada, France and The Netherlands.
The authors’ analysis identified the sex differences in the incidence of ischemic strokes was the greatest and most evident among adults younger than age 35 years, with an estimated 44 per cent more women than men in this age group experiencing ischemic strokes.
The incidence of ischemic stroke increases exponentially with age, and only 15 per cent of all ischemic strokes occur in adults younger than age 50 years, the study found.
This sex difference narrowed among adults ages 35 to 45 years. Sex differences in older age groups were more difficult to determine due to wide variability in the way data was presented among the studies in this systemic review.
The researchers were also not able to identify specific causes behind the higher prevalence of strokes in young women compared to young men.
Based on their analysis, the researchers concluded: “Traditional atherosclerotic risk factors are a major contributor to ischemic strokes in both young men and women and become increasingly important with age.
“However, these risk factors are less prevalent in younger women and may not account for the observed higher incidence of ischemic strokes in women younger than age 35.
“Young women who are survivors of ischemic stroke also have worse outcomes, with two to three times higher risk of poorer functional outcomes compared to their male counterparts.”
The researchers said more research is needed to better define the sex differences of ischemic stroke in young adults and the contributions that non-traditional risk factors, such as pregnancy, postpartum and hormonal contraceptives, may play in the overall burden of ischemic strokes in young women.
“Our finding suggests that strokes in young adults may be happening for different reasons than strokes in older adults. This emphasizes the importance of doing more studies of stroke in younger age groups so that we can better understand what puts young women at a higher risk of stroke,” said study co-author Sharon N. Poisson, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Colorado, Denver.
“Better understanding which young adults are at risk for stroke can help us to do a better job of preventing and treating strokes in young people.”
