A new study has found that young women who live with ongoing stress may have a higher risk of stroke.
The research, published in the medical journal Neurology®, focused on adults between the ages of 18 and 49. It found that women who reported moderate to high stress levels were more likely to experience a type of stroke called ischemic stroke.
This is a serious condition that happens when blood flow to the brain is blocked. It can cause problems like weakness, difficulty speaking, vision loss, or even death.
The study was led by Dr. Nicolas Martinez-Majander from Helsinki University Hospital in Finland. He explained that many young adults face high levels of stress, often due to work pressure, long hours, job insecurity, and financial worries.
While past research has already shown that chronic stress is bad for both mental and physical health, this study now shows a link between stress and stroke in young women.
The researchers studied 426 people aged 18 to 49 who had suffered an ischemic stroke with no known cause. They compared them with another group of 426 people of the same age and sex who had never had a stroke.
Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their stress levels over the previous month. Those who had a stroke were asked to recall how they felt during the month leading up to the stroke.
The questionnaire included 10 questions, such as how often participants felt out of control or overwhelmed. Each question was scored from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). Scores of 0 to 13 meant low stress, 14 to 26 meant moderate stress, and 27 to 40 meant high stress. On average, people who had a stroke scored 13, while those without stroke scored 10.
Overall, 46% of people who had strokes reported moderate or high stress, compared to only 33% of those who had not had a stroke. After adjusting for other factors like education level, alcohol use, and blood pressure, researchers found that stress was strongly linked to stroke risk in women.
Women with moderate stress had a 78% higher risk of stroke. Interestingly, high stress was linked to only a 6% increase. There was no similar link between stress and stroke found in men.
Dr. Martinez-Majander said that more research is needed to understand why stress seems to affect women differently than men. He also noted that it was surprising that moderate stress had a stronger connection to stroke than high stress. These findings could help doctors come up with better ways to prevent strokes, especially in women.
One limitation of the study is that people who were very stressed may not have agreed to take part in the study. If this happened, it could have changed the results.
This research was supported by several organizations in Finland and Sweden, including the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, the Academy of Finland, The Finnish Medical Foundation, The Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, and Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
If you care about stroke, please read studies that diets high in flavonoids could help reduce stroke risk, and MIND diet could slow down cognitive decline after stroke.
For more health information, please see recent studies about antioxidants that could help reduce the risk of dementia, and tea and coffee may help lower your risk of stroke, dementia.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
