After Snoop Dogg’s young daughter suffered a stroke, many are asking how someone aged just 24 years can suffer a ‘disease of the elderly’.
Strokes normally strike adults in their 70s, but have been rising faster among younger adults — those aged 18 to 45 years — for decades than among those in any other age group. In some hospitals, cases have nearly doubled in just a few years.
Doctors say more unhealthy lifestyles and rising obesity rates may be behind the shift — with obesity raising the risk of weak arteries that can cause blood clots.
But other factors such as overconsumption of alcohol and higher rates of smoking, vaping and even using weed among young adults may also be to blame.
Cori Broadus, who lives in Los Angeles, revealed she ‘cried so much’ when doctors said she had suffered from a stroke. They are unsure of a cause, but she does have the autoimmune condition lupus — where the body attacks its own cells — which can raise the risk.
Cori Broadus, 24, is pictured above with her father Snoop Dogg. She has suffered a stroke at a young age, raising concerns over the potential cause of the condition
Data from the American Heart Association suggests strokes rose by 43 percent among youngsters aged 18 to 44 years in the US between 2004 and 2018.
Cori is just the latest high profile young celebrity to be hit by a stroke after Hailey Beiber also suffered from stroke-like symptoms and a ‘small’ blockage in her brain in 2022 at the age of just 25 years.
And in the same year ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ alum Nene Leakes revealed that her 23-year-old son, Brentt Leakes, had also survived a stroke.
Revealing her diagnosis online, Ms Broadus said she ‘broke down crying’ when doctors told her what had happened.
‘I’m only 24 what did I do in my past to deserve all of this,’ she said.
The most common form of stroke — called ischemic stroke, which accounts for about 60 percent of cases among young people — is caused by a blockage or clot that obstructs bloodflow in the brain, leading to cells being deprived of vital oxygen and nutrients and starting to die.
The other main type of stroke — called hemorrhagic strokes — is when a blood vessel bursts in the brain and starts to leak its contents into the organ.
‘We used to see stroke in younger people mostly happening in those with a genetic predisposition, like having a blood clotting disorder,’ said Melinda Tafoya, a stroke researcher at the hospital.
‘But now we are seeing how quickly poor lifestyle choices can affect the body and the overall risk for stroke in younger adults.’
The hospital where Ms Bieber was sent after experiencing a sensation of numbness in her arm and fingers confirmed that she suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), more commonly referred to as a mini-stroke
A mini stroke, known medically as a transient ischemic attack, occurs when blockage occurs in a person’s cerebral artery and denies blood to the brain. It presents the same symptoms as a regular stroke, but will resolve itself within 24 hours
Among older adults — those aged 75 and older — rates of the complication fell by two percent, although the overall rate remains much higher than among those in younger age groups.
Doctors at UC Health add that the proportion of their patients aged 18 to 45 years old who have been admitted with a stroke has nearly doubled — rising from five percent in 2020 to more than nine percent in 2023.
Doctors have suggested several theories as to what may be behind the rise, including pointing to rising levels of youth obesity.
Statistics show as many as two in five adults aged 20 to 39 years old are now obese, while among those aged 40 to 59 years the rates have risen to 44 percent — nearly half.
Obesity can weaken blood vessels, raising the risk of them suffering damage that leads to the formation of blood clots — which can cause strokes.
Dr Tafoya, suggesting obesity is raising the risk of strokes among young people, said: ‘We definitely have seen an increase in poor lifestyle choices from younger people, like unhealthy eating, doing less exercise and activity and being overweight.’
The condition also raises the risk of other complications such as high blood pressure and diabetes, which are also known to raise the risk of strokes.
In addition, studies suggest that smoking weed could also raise the risk of a stroke — with a paper published last September finding those who smoked weed had an up to 60 percent higher risk of serious medical issues — including heart attacks and stroke.
The exact reason for this is not clear, but Canadian researchers have suggested it could be due to weed activating the endocannabinoid system — a network of receptors in the body that respond to compounds in cannabis.
Activating the network causes an increased heart rate and constricted blood vessels, which raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Some consumers also have weed via smoking it as a joint, which is also known to raise the risk of stroke through causing inflammation that can damage the lining of blood vessels.
Weed use has surged among American youngsters amid a wave of legalizations, with 29 percent of those aged 19 to 30 years now using the drug — compared to 21 percent in 2016 and 17 percent in 2011.
Dr Tafoya added: ‘Activities like using alcohol and drugs and smoking can also increase your risk for stroke, and these activities are often starting at younger ages.’
Alcohol can also raise the risk of clots by interfering with factors that form the clots in the blood, which may cause more to form. Smoking is a well-known major risk factor for stroke.
Some studies are also now starting to link vapes — popular among young adults — to the same condition, because they also vape.
Some experts have also suggested Covid may be behind the rise in young people, pointing out the virus can cause a thickening in blood — raising the risk of clots appearing that can cause the complications.
Ms Broadus has now been discharged from hospital, saying the day before online: ‘God is working overtime you hear me! My kidneys were doing terrible… doctors came in this AM and said they are improving so much.’
She added: ‘Again, I’m human and go through [stuff] like everybody else which is why I’m so open about my life because I know I feel alone.
‘But we are never alone, someone is always going through damn near the same.’
It is not clear whether she uses weed, but in November last year her father — a long-time marijuana enthusiast — revealed he was quitting the drug.
Snoop Dogg — whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. — revealed his daughter was ‘doing a little bit better’ when he was asked about her on the red carpet for the launch of the movie The Underdogg’s earlier last week.
Asked by People whether it had helped put his life in perspective, the 52-year-old said: ‘Yeah, yeah. Something like that.’
Patients who suffer from a stroke can suffer mild symptoms afterward that quickly resolve or serious complications that leave them disabled.
Older adults are at much higher risk because they are more likely to have blood clots and plaques on the walls of their blood vessels which can become dislodged and cause a stroke.
