SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Doctors are warning of a new coronavirus symptom showing up in young adults.
CNN reports doctors at Mount Sinai Health System in New York believe there is growing evidence that coronavirus may cause sudden strokes in adults in their 30s and 40s who are not severely sick.
This is due to the virus causing the blood to clot in “unusual ways,” which results in an uptick in strokes among patients who don’t typically suffer from them.
“The virus seems to be causing increased clotting in the large arteries, leading to severe stroke,” neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Oxley, a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai told CNN.
“Our report shows a seven-fold increase in incidence of sudden stroke in young patients during the past two weeks. Most of these patients have no past medical history and were at home with either mild symptoms (or in two cases, no symptoms) of Covid,” Oxley said.
Oxley and his colleagues said they typically record fewer than two strokes a month in people under age 50, but in a two-week period during the pandemic, they treated five.
“All tested positive. Two of them delayed calling an ambulance,” Oxley added.
Their findings will be published in a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Oxley said his team of doctors urged people to be alert and monitor their symptoms of coronavirus and to call 911 if they believe they’ve suffered a stroke.
Oxley referred to the mnemonic device to remember warning signs for strokes – FAST: F for face drooping; A for arm weakness; S for speech difficulty, and T for time to call 911.
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