Young, ‘Immortal,’ and at Risk

As young adults, we cannot imagine that bad things can happen to us.  We believe we are immortal.  But bad things can and do happen to young people each day.  Car accidents, sports injuries, and other violent injuries occur even when we use our seatbelts faithfully, avoid driving under the influence, wear protective sports equipment , practice gun safety, and stay away from unsafe neighborhoods. 

Several other unforeseen maladies can also affect our young adult lives in extreme ways, including MS (Multiple Sclerosis), ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and mental health disorders.  All these conditions seem to strike without warning and can radically alter our abilities and aspirations. 

Recent studies have indicated that there is a preventable life-altering medical condition affecting young adults:  stroke.   The incidence of strokes is drastically on the rise in young adults.  The sharpest increase—an astounding 51%--is occurring among young men age 15-34, even as the incidence of stroke is decreasing among men 65 and older by 25%.  Strokes have also increased in women of the same age group by 17%, even as strokes among women over 65 of women have decreased by 28%.  Why are such alarming increases occurring?  The most significant risk factors are obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol overuse, and diabetes.

We need to begin preventing strokes early, and young adults can reduce their risks and improve their health through these simple measures: 

• Get active!  Our sedentary lifestyles are slowly wrecking our health.  Back away from the TV and computer and start moving.  You don’t need to buy expensive work-out gear or have an interactive video game to get fit.   Walking even as little as 30 minutes a day is a great start to getting healthier.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator and park your car further away from the store. 

·         Push yourself away from the table.  Simple tricks can help us cut back.  Use a smaller plate at meals to begin to cut back on the amount you eat—you’ll be surprised by how quickly your appetite accommodates itself to reduced portions.  Reduce your “whites”:   breads, pasta, potatoes and rice.  Drink more water and less soda—juice and diet sodas are far less healthful (and far more sugary) than you imagine.  Eat more fruits and vegetables.  Choose your snacks wisely:  almonds are better than beer nuts.

·         Stop the salt. Take the salt shaker off your table, and look at the processed foods you eat every day; they contain large amounts of “hidden” salt.  Try to limit your daily intake to less than 2000 mg.

·         Visit your doctor at least annually and more regularly as recommended.  Get regular check-ups at your doctors, ask questions and listen to their recommendations.  Get tested for diabetes, especially if there is a family history of the disease.  If you were diagnosed as a gestational diabetic when you were pregnant, you need to be retested after the pregnancy.

·         Take your “meds” as prescribed.

·         Stop smoking.  There are numerous products and programs to help you quit.  Pick one and stick with it.  You have no excuse.

·         Limit alcohol consumption.  Never drink and drive, or get into the car with someone who has; but daily and/or excessive alcohol intake packs on the pounds and opens you up to a host of diseases. 

We may think that disease prevention is too hard, or too restrictive, or too uncool when we are in our 20s, 30s and 40s.  But the consequences of inattention can be grave.  A young person who experiences a devastating stroke at 30 may spend as much as 40 years in a nursing home.  In the last decade, the number of young adults living in nursing homes rose by 22%.  Families are finding that they cannot afford to care for these young adults at home, but the cost of providing long-term nursing home care can be insurmountable.

Our nation recognizes that this rising generation of children and young adults may be the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents – and a poorer quality of life in general.  We understand the risk factors and the disease syndromes.  But we still fail to adequately prevent … and we have failed to figure out how to provide long-term care.