Our Magnificent Heritage

Strokes on the rise in youths

"Of all the things parents worry about happening to their children, strokes usually aren't one of them.
That's why Christina Lovett of Mattoon, Ill., and the family pediatrician thought her 10-year-old son, Josh, had the flu when he was vomiting and complaining of a severe headache in late January.
Five days later, Josh was having trouble walking. Brain scans revealed a series of strokes.
"I'm thinking all this time 'it's a virus,'" Lovett said last week in the therapy gym at St. Louis Children's Hospital, where Josh is recovering. "I thought (strokes) were just in adults."
Advanced age is still the most common risk factor for stroke, which occurs when the brain doesn't get enough oxygen because a blood vessel is blocked or ruptured. But doctors here and elsewhere report seeing younger stroke patients."