I’m one of the new wave of stroke victims

The NHS has warned of a staggering 55 per cent rise in strokes among healthy middle-aged people in the last two decades. Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of the NHS, offered no explanation for what he calls an ‘alarming’ increase, beyond the standard advice to take more exercise, eat carefully, and avoid smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The figures on which Sir Stephen bases his alert are truly startling: 12,533 people in their 50s suffered strokes in Britain last year, up from just 8,033 in 2005, while 19,421 people in their 60s were stricken – compared to just 13,650 in 2005.

I have a personal interest in these statistics. Two years ago, after enjoying a lifetime of near-perfect health, I suffered a minor stroke, or ‘hypodensity in the right basal ganglia’ of the brain, as my clinical notes described it. I was lucky; I only spent 24 hours in hospital before being discharged on a daily cocktail of blood-thinning and blood-pressure-reducing drugs.