The self-confidence of young people about their health is proving to be their bane. Doctors at the Stroke Summer School, organised by the Indian Stroke Association over a recent weekend at Taj Taal Kutir, on the edge of Eco Park, put the blame on their attitude towards health management while talking about the increasing incidence of brain stroke in youths.
“Younger people are more prone to this because they don’t get themselves checked. The elderly at least think they’ll have some medical issues and go to the doctor. Young people think: ‘I am young. Why should I get checked? I will not.’ Even if they have symptoms, they ignore them. So it is very important to recognise that one can suffer a brain stroke at any age,” said P. Vijaya, president, Indian Stroke Association (ISA).
The association was launching a stroke awareness campaign aimed at addressing what it called “the alarming rise in stroke cases across Calcutta and West Bengal”. According to the office-bearers, the state now has the highest Disability Adjusted Life Year rate (a standard metric for quantifying the overall burden of disease, representing a year of healthy life lost due to either premature death or living with a disability) for stroke in India.
The doctors also flagged the rise in lifestyle diseases. “Many people die of a heart attack in the gym or while conducting their day-to-day activities. Similarly, brain stroke is also becoming more and more common in young people,” she pointed out.
Stroke emergency awareness and recognition signs, medical procedure infographic
“The reason is changing demographics. For example, once upon a time, we walked to school and college, which would typically be two to three kilometers away from home. Nowadays, people hardly walk. Everybody uses transport. People don’t cook anymore. They survive on junk food,” she commented.
Unhealthy food and unhealthy habits together are a lethal combination. “Bad food habits make people overweight. They are also getting hypertension and diabetes at younger ages. We are getting youngsters even 15 -20 years old with hypertension and diabetes these days,” said Arvind Sharma, secretary, ISA.
Irregular lifestyles culminate in inadequate sleep and sleep apnea. Other factors working against young patients, they said, were air pollution and genetics. The most important triggers are emotional and physical stress.
“All these impact what is called brain health. If brain health is good, there is less chance of a brain stroke. But the opposite is unhealthy habits,” Sharma explained.
Vijaya added two more red flags — smoking and alcohol. “Excess alcohol consumption has become a big problem everywhere. It can cause both ischemic and brain haemorrhage,” she said.
Stroke has emerged as one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability in India, with 1.29 million new cases reported in 2019 and nearly 6,99,000 stroke-related fatalities. Alarmingly, 73 per cent of Indian stroke patients arrive at medical facilities too late to benefit from life-saving treatments, with average delays exceeding 11 hours — resulting in the loss of nearly 1.8 million brain cells for every minute that passes.
The ISA’s Stroke Summer School 2025 aimed at training young neurologists in stroke medicine. Around 150 students from across India took part.
The “Time to Act” campaign aims to enhance the capacity of general physicians in Calcutta to recognize the early signs of stroke, improving referral networks to designated stroke centres, and fostering community awareness through education on the FAST test (Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to hospital). By empowering both healthcare professionals and the public, ISA seeks to reduce response times and ultimately save lives. “If you find these symptoms, don’t wait for an ambulance. Take any available vehicle and go to the nearest stroke-ready hospital,” said Dr Jayanta Roy, organising secretary, ISA and neurologist at Manipal Hospital.
According to ISA’s survey, Calcutta bears a particularly heavy burden, exacerbated by lifestyle risk factors, low public awareness, and delays in accessing stroke-ready hospitals. “The understanding that this is a stroke and I need to go to the hospital as early as possible — this knowledge is very important. In Calcutta, one of the biggest hurdles we face is the delay in reaching the right hospital. Families often waste precious hours going from one facility to another that is not equipped for stroke management. This single factor costs us more patients than anything else,” said Dr Roy.
The ‘Time to Act’ campaign, the association hopes, will help strengthen referral systems and train physicians across the city to identify stroke and guide patients directly to specialised centres quickly.
“Stroke affects people in their most productive years, and this has huge social and economic consequences for families. Beyond financial stress, untreated or late-treated strokes often leave patients permanently disabled, creating lifelong challenges. Our campaign is about building an ecosystem where public awareness, physician readiness, and hospital response are tightly linked. If we can reduce delays, we can save thousands of lives and prevent lifelong disabilities. People must recognise stroke as an emergency equal to a heart attack, and this campaign is our call to action,” Dr Roy said.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in India, but the good news, the doctors stressed, is that most strokes can be prevented. Simple steps like checking your blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol regularly, eating healthy, staying active, avoiding smoking, and limiting alcohol can drastically reduce the risk.
The association emphasised that nearly 80 per cent of strokes are preventable with lifestyle changes. “We also urge everyone to remember the BE FAST warning signs—Balance, Eyes, Face, Arm, Speech, Time—and seek medical help immediately. Acting within the ‘golden hours’—the first four and half hours after stroke symptoms appear— can save lives and significantly reduce the chances of long-term disability,” Dr Sharma summed up.