Stroke as young as 24 - on the trail of an enigmatic disease

Recently, the death of musician Roger Cicero has shockingly shown that a stroke can not only affect old, sick people. The cause of a cerebral infarction is not always the risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity or smoking. This painful experience had to make the today 29-year-old Meike Mittmeyer Riehl from the south Hessian Münster. In March 2012, she breaks down after playing tennis with a half-sided paralysis. In the Darmstadt Hospital confirmed the bad suspicion: It is a stroke.

At the age of only 24, as a young, slim, sporty woman and confident non-smoker - impossible! Splitting the carotid artery - a so-called spontaneous dissection - has triggered the infarction in her: extremely rare, little explored, but one of the most common causes of strokes in young patients without typical risk factors.

Meike Mittmeyer

Because none of her doctors can answer the urgent question of why, the journalist herself traces the trail of a mysterious disease and meets doctors and geneticists who are researching it. It is believed that spontaneous dissection is associated with an incurable connective tissue change - which means that a cerebral vein could break down again at any time and cause further strokes. In her dogged search the journalist has to realize that modern medicine does not yet know any clear answers. The uncertainty and the desperate attempt to find an explanation gradually plunge the young woman into a mental illness.

It is this hard setback that forces them to come to terms with everything that has happened. From this review, the present book "The gap: How me - 24, slim, athletic, non-smoker - the hit met" emerged, the merits of the past four years relentlessly and boldly revealed. Her claim was, however, not only to share her harrowing story with others, but also to elucidate this rare cause of stroke among younger patients. "I would like to dispel the myth that a stroke can only affect old, sick people. Almost everyone believes that, even many doctors, as I know from other people affected, "says the author.

"I was very lucky myself because the rescue chain worked well for me: Within a short time I was in the Darmstadt Stroke Unit and received blood thinning medication. As a result, I did not carry any lasting damage, "reports MittmeyerRiehl. "Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky. That's why it's so important to know the symptoms and act right away, whether it's a child or a senior. "(Pm)