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Science / Medicine : Stroke Risks for the Young

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<i> From staff and wire reports</i>

Young adults have suffered strokes after traumatizing one of four main arteries supplying blood to the brain while performing such simple tasks as brushing teeth or tossing back a drink, doctors reported.

A 32-year-old woman recently suffered a stroke after playing a drinking game in which she tossed back several shots of whiskey, according to a letter published last week by the New England Journal of Medicine.

“It was not only the alcohol but the manner in which she consumed it,” said Dr. Richard M. Trosch, a neurology resident at the Yale University School of Medicine and a co-author of the article.

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Knocking back a shot of whiskey should be included among a list of potential stroke-causing “trivial traumas,” including old whiplash injuries, childbirth, heavy lifting, brushing teeth and diving into water, wrote Trosch and his Yale co-authors, Drs. Lawrence M. Brass and Moshe Hasbani.

“Although alcoholic intoxication has been reported as a risk factor for stroke, the manner in which one chooses to become intoxicated has not.”

Trosch said young adults are particularly prone to damaging the extracranial carotid artery, a major vein through which blood is pumped from the heart to the brain.

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