Concerns over the number of strokes among younger people in Lincolnshire and Newark

There are concerns about the number of people of young people across Lincolnshire and Newark who are suffering a stroke.

Figures show there are nearly 40 hospital admissions every year in the East Midlands involving 18-26 year old's who've had a stroke.

It's also believed the number of younger people with a stroke is increasing.

We've been speaking to Dr May Maeva from The Stroke Association.

She told us: "There was a 2022 paper out of Oxford that looked at stroke survivors under 55 years of age and they noticed between two different time points a 67 per cent increase."

"That's really concerning actually."

Often the health system isn't quite ready to diagnose them with a stroke if they're younger

"It was seen in younger stroke survivors that had professional or managerial jobs - they hypothesised there could be a link to potentially longer work hours or low physical activity or the stress of a job."

"I think what's different about young stroke survivors is often the health system isn't quite ready to diagnose them with a stroke because it's unusual for a young person to experience a stroke."

"Often clinicians and nurses might diagnose them with something else."

She also told us about the signs to watch out for if you feel someone may have had a stroke:

"F is for face - so can the person affected smile or has their eyes or mouth drooped."

"A is for arm - can they raise both arms."

"S is for speech."

"T is for time - which means time to call 999 because a stroke is always an emergency."

{{news}]