Kansas man who had strokes at 28 and 33 warns ‘it’s not about age’ – as rates in young people rise
A Kansas man who suffered two strokes in his 20s and 30s warned others “it’s not about your age” when it comes to the condition.
Bill Ramsey from Kansas told it KSN News Wichita he woke up on the floor one day thinking he had passed out. In fact, he had a stroke. He had one when he was 28 years old and another five years later, at age 33.
Mr. Ramsey found himself temporarily blind after the second incident. Unsure of what was wrong, he waited twice to see a doctor. The doctor told him that he had suffered a stroke despite his age.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, with cases rising in young people amid rising obesity and diabetes — both risk factors.
Bill Ramsey of Kansas had two strokes by the time he was 33, one of which left him temporarily blind. “It’s not about your age. It’s not about your health,’ Mr Ramsey said. “There are all sorts of things that could be causing it, and you need to understand what those signs are so you can help someone.”
“Battled short-term memory loss for about a year, struggling to hold conversations with people where I would lose my place. I lost a lot of feeling on the left side. My face droops when I get tired,” said Mr Ramsey. “I call them acceptable losses because it could have been so much worse.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, someone in the US has a stroke every 40 seconds. That’s almost 800,000 people a year. Nearly one in four has had a stoke before.
a 2022 study in the journal Stroke found an 11 percent increase over the past 15 years in intracerebral and bleeding strokes, also known as ICH strokes.
The biggest increase was among Americans ages 18 to 44, with an increase of 38 percent.
Although the risk of stroke doubles every 10 years after reaching age 55, as many as one in seven people aged 15 to 49 will experience the event.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute lists the most serious risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, smoking, brain aneurysms and conditions that cause inflammation.
Many of these risk factors are also increasing. For example, among people who had ICH strokes in the 2022 study, the percentage of people with high blood pressure increased from 74.5 percent to 86.4 percent.
Stroke symptoms are commonly remembered under this four-letter acronym, FAST. Stroke patients often have their face drooping to one side, difficulty lifting both arms, and speech slurred, while time is of the essence, as prompt treatment of transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke can significantly reduce the risk of stroke. much more deadly major stroke
At a younger age, men are more likely than women to have a stroke. However, as they age, women are at greater risk, as they tend to live longer. The CDC suggests that one in five women between the ages of 55 and 75 will have a stroke.
“It’s not about your age. It’s not about your health,’ Mr Ramsey said. “There are all sorts of things that could be causing it, and you need to understand what those signs are so you can help someone.”
Although Mr. Ramsey has recovered from his strokes, he still has lasting effects.
“Battled short-term memory loss for about a year, struggling to hold conversations with people where I would lose my place. I lost a lot of feeling on the left side. My face droops when I get tired, he said.
“I call them acceptable losses because it could have been so much worse.”
Ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, according to the CDC. These occur when the pathway between the blood vessels and the brain is blocked by fatty deposits called plaques that cause blockages.
This happens as a result of cardiovascular disease, when blood vessels become narrowed or blocked over time by fatty deposits known as plaques – a process known as atherosclerosis.
A variant of these events are transient ischemic strokes, also referred to as ‘mini-strokes’ or ‘warning strokes’. These only block blood flow for a short time, often just five minutes.
Although short-lived, they serve as warning signs of a future stroke and are considered a medical emergency.
The CDC estimates that more than a third of people who experience these types of events and do not receive treatment will have a massive stroke within a year. As many as 10 to 15 percent of people will have a major stroke within three months of a warning event.
Mr. Ramsey didn’t know he needed immediate care, but acting quickly can minimize the long-term effects of a stroke.
The American Heart Association has a set of guidelines called FAST for recognizing a stroke. F stands for “face drooping,” such as one side of the patient’s face that feels numb or their smile seems uneven. A stands for “arm weakness,” or one arm that floats down when the person is both raised. S stands for ‘speech problems’ or slurred speech. T stands for time to call 911.
Despite the challenges, Mr. Ramsey is proof that life doesn’t end after a stroke.
“You can recover from this and live a great life,” he said.