Along each side of the neck are a pair of arteries that supply blood to the brain. It’s rare for one of those blood vessels to tear. But it’s one of the most common causes of a stroke in younger adults, according to a new report that comes on the heels of research showing that cases appear to be rising, especially among women.
Torn neck arteries are responsible for as many as 1 in 4 strokes among adults under 50, says an American Heart Association scientific statement about cervical artery dissection published this month in the journal Stroke. The report came just days after a separate study in Stroke showed cases of cervical artery dissection in one Minnesota county have risen fourfold since 2002 and twelvefold in women.
Watch a report on this study from WWLP-22News: