A growing number of young Nigerians are suffering strokes due to poor lifestyle choices, environmental risks, and undetected health conditions, medical experts have revealed.
The physicians stressed the urgent need for early screening, noting that stroke now affects more young adults in their 20s and 30s, often striking without warning.
Speaking exclusively to PUNCH Healthwise, the experts identified several driving factors behind the trend, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, smoking, stress, poor diet, lack of physical activity, and excessive consumption of alcohol and processed foods.
According to them, many of these risk factors are silent, showing no symptoms, and go unchecked until a stroke occurs.
In addition to these lifestyle-related causes, the experts noted that some young individuals may have genetic or medical conditions that elevate their risk, such as sickle cell disease, congenital heart abnormalities, migraines, HIV, and even pregnancy-related complications.
They explained that the combination of genetic susceptibility and poor lifestyle habits is proving especially dangerous for African youth.
According to the World Health Organisation, stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and it is likely to worsen in developing countries over the next two decades.
WHO noted that stroke carries a high risk of death, while survivors can experience loss of vision or speech, paralysis, and confusion.
According to the global health body, annually, 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke, out of which five million die, and another five million are left permanently disabled, thus placing a burden on family and community.
WHO stated that stroke is uncommon in people under 40 years, adding that when it does occur, the main cause is high blood pressure.
According to the National Institute of Health and the National Library of Science, Nigeria stands to risk the further straining of its resources as a result of the increasing prevalence of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases due to epidemiological transition.
It put the current prevalence of stroke in Nigeria at 1.14 per 1000, while the 30-day case fatality rate at as high as 40 per cent.
Locally, findings from the Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network study show that diet, stress, and low physical activity are major stroke contributors in young Nigerians, while genetic factors like sickle cell disease further complicate things.
Speaking to our correspondent, the Director, Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof. Mayowa Owolabi, lamented that stroke and other cardiovascular diseases have now overtaken infectious diseases to become the leading causes of death across the continent.
He identified hypertension, diabetes, obesity, dyslipidaemia (high cholesterol), physical inactivity, smoking, and poor dietary habits, including low consumption of green leafy vegetables, as the major culprits behind the surge in stroke cases among the young population in Africa.
“Stroke in the young is now increasingly common in Africa and largely driven by lifestyle factors influenced by commercial and social determinants of health,” he said.
Owolabi, who is also the pioneer Regional Vice President (Sub-Saharan Africa) of the World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation, emphasised that daily consumption of green leafy vegetables significantly reduces the likelihood of developing a stroke, while regular physical activity, avoiding fast food and alcohol, and early detection of silent conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are key to prevention.
“Most of the risk factors do not show symptoms until a devastating stroke happens. That is why screening and control of these risk factors across the life course is crucial,” Owolabi stated.
To tackle the growing epidemic, he advocated for urgent policy interventions such as reintroducing physical activity in schools, taxing unhealthy foods and substances like tobacco and alcohol, and reinvesting those taxes into promoting a healthy food chain and safe, walkable environments.
He also warned that obesity, especially abdominal obesity or ‘potbelly’, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake, and processed foods rich in fat, salt, or red meat increase stroke risk significantly.
On the genetic aspect, the professor noted that conditions such as sickle cell disease and multiple interacting genes also raise stroke risk.
He revealed that his team is currently conducting studies in African populations to develop genetic screening tools for early detection of stroke risks.
“Diagnosis of stroke can be clinical and confirmed using portable brain scans like MRI or CT. We now also use polygenic risk scores and stroke risk calculators to quantify an individual’s aggregate risk,” he explained.
He stressed that individuals who experience symptoms like slurred speech, facial droop, weakness of the arm or leg, double vision, or transient blindness, even for a few minutes, should seek urgent medical attention, as these may be signs of a transient ischaemic attack or an impending stroke.
“Quick intervention can prevent death and long-term disability. Patients should be treated in specialised stroke units with multidisciplinary teams and access to clot-busting therapies and rehabilitation,” he advised.
Quoting the World Health Organisation, Prof. Owolabi urged adults to engage in at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity weekly.
He stated, “Eat green leafy vegetables every day; avoid tobacco, alcohol, and fast food. Check your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol at least twice a year. Prevention is still the best cure.”
Also, a Consultant Neurologist, Dr. Demola Olaniyi, warned that poor lifestyle choices, untreated medical conditions, and weak emergency response systems are fueling the disturbing trend.
Olaniyi said that traditional risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, smoking, and heart disease, once seen as issues for older adults, are now becoming widespread among people in their 20s and 30s, thereby increasing stroke occurrence in that age group.
He explained, “Stroke is no longer a disease of the elderly. We are now seeing more young people with stroke, and the number keeps increasing.
“The same risk factors, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes, are now more prevalent in the young, mostly due to poor lifestyle habits.”
The physician also identified additional stroke risks unique to younger adults, including migraine, oral contraceptive use, pregnancy, congenital heart defects, and recreational drug use.
In Nigeria’s context, he added, diseases like HIV, meningitis, and genetic conditions such as sickle cell disorder are also major contributors.
Olaniyi stressed that unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, smoking, and alcohol abuse are accelerating these risks.
He referenced findings from the SIREN (Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network) study, which showed that regular consumption of fish and vegetables significantly reduces stroke risk.
“Lifestyle choices play a huge role. Stroke is largely preventable. Regular exercise, healthy eating, and stress reduction can go a long way in reducing the chances,” he said.
Highlighting the role of early detection and treatment, the neurologist emphasised the importance of public awareness of stroke warning signs using the F.A.S.T. mnemonic—Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call emergency services.
“Stroke can now be reversed if the patient gets to the hospital within 4.5 hours. But many Nigerians arrive too late due to poor awareness and delayed referrals. That’s why early recognition and prompt action are so crucial,” he warned.
He called for urgent improvements in Nigeria’s emergency healthcare system, including better coordination for referrals, increased stroke education, and expansion of stroke care centers capable of providing advanced treatments such as intravenous clot-busting drugs, mechanical thrombectomy, and neuroimaging.
“There are now modern treatments that can melt the blockage or remove it mechanically, but they are expensive and time-sensitive. We need to fix emergency transport and provide health financing because there’s no time to be looking for money when stroke strikes,” he added.
Olaniyi also called for increased investment in rehabilitation services, noting that advancements like tele-rehabilitation, brain stimulation, and robotic therapy are helping young stroke survivors recover faster.
A study revealed that nearly one in four stroke cases in West Africa now occurs in people under the age of 50, with high blood pressure emerging as the single most devastating culprit fueling the crisis.
The research, conducted under SIREN across 15 sites in Nigeria and Ghana, warned that stroke, once considered a disease of the elderly, is increasingly crippling the region’s youthful and productive population.
Out of 2,118 stroke cases analysed, 515 patients, representing 24.3 per cent, were below 50 years.
Shockingly, more than half of these younger patients suffered hemorrhagic strokes, a deadlier type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain, unlike in Western countries, where ischemic strokes are more common in young adults.
The findings identified hypertension as the leading modifiable risk factor, accounting for almost 89 per cent of strokes among young West Africans.
Dyslipidemia (abnormal cholesterol levels), diabetes, poor intake of green vegetables, psychosocial stress, and underlying heart disease were also listed as major contributors.
The study also drew attention to the role of poor education and health literacy in worsening the trend.
The researchers found that individuals with no formal education had significantly higher risks of stroke, raising concerns about the lack of awareness, late detection, and poor management of hypertension across communities.
Globally, stroke among people under 50 accounts for between five and 20 per cent of cases, but in West Africa, the figure is climbing steeply, signaling what experts describe as an “epidemiological time bomb.”
The researchers warned that unless urgent preventive measures are taken, including public education, better hypertension screening, lifestyle interventions, and affordable access to care, the region may continue to lose its most active workforce to a largely preventable disease.
(Punch)
