Health warning for young and old during stroke day

Researchers are baffled why fit teenagers can also fall victim to the 'elderly people's disease'

Despite several studies over the past decade, doctors remain mystified as to why some healthy people as young as 18 suddenly succumb to a stroke, a member of the Hong Kong Stroke Society says.

Queen Mary Hospital alone has treated eight stroke victims aged 18 to 25 in the past 10 years. None had any hereditary or hidden diseases, such as meningitis, deformity of blood vessels or prenatal heart diseases, which could trigger the condition.

'We still monitor the situation of those young patients who come back to our clinic regularly for rehabilitation and regular check-ups,' said Raymond Cheung Tak-fai, associate professor of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, which is associated with the Queen Mary Hospital.

'It remains a great mystery to us why they were suddenly hit by strokes.'

Dr Cheung, also president of the Hong Kong Neurological Society and honorary secretary of the Hong Kong Stroke Society, said all eight young patients had survived and most had regained a healthy, normal life. Some, however, had developed severe permanent disabilities, including one young man who is now wheelchair-bound.

Dr Cheung said the median age of stroke patients was 70. About 3 per cent of stroke patients at Queen Mary Hospital are under 45, and just 1.5 per cent are between 18 and 30. The hospital treats about 1,200 stroke patients a year.