“The number of acute ischemic stroke hospitalizations among middle-aged and older men and women fell between 1994 and 2007, but sharply increased among those under age 35 — including teens and children — according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2011. Analysts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reviewing hospitalization data by age and gender, identified declining rates of 51 percent in girls 0-4 years and 25 percent in men and 29 percent in women over 45. However, the number of ischemic stroke hospitalizations increased 51 percent in males between ages 15 and 34 during the period studied. The rate increased 17 percent in females between 15 and 34. Among children and teens, they found a 31 percent increase in boys between 5 to 14 years and a 36 percent increase among girls 5 to 14 years. Among the younger middle-aged set, they found a 47 percent increase among men 35-44 and a 36 percent increase among women 35-44. “I believe this is the first large study to report these findings, stratified by age and gender,” said Xin Tong, M.P.H., a health statistician with the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention…”