Health experts have raised the alarm over the increasing incidence of stroke among young and middle-aged Nigerians, warning that the condition, once largely associated with old age, is now affecting people in their 30s, 40s and early 50s.

Health experts raised the concern at the 2026 World Physiotherapy awareness walk organised by the management and staff of Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos State, on Tuesday.

The 2026 World Physiotherapy Day celebration is themed “Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease,” with the sub-theme “Role of Physiotherapy in Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease.”

The Medical Director of Gbagada General Hospital, Dr Saliu Olugbenga Oseni, said the awareness walk was organised as part of the hospital’s week-long celebration to provide an opportunity for staff to promote physical activity, healthy living and awareness of the vital role of physiotherapy in the prevention and management of stroke and cardiovascular diseases.

Speaking on the increasing incidence of stroke among young and middle-aged Nigerians, Head of Physiotherapy Department, Gbagada General Hospital, Hazmat Azeez Adebiyi, said the changing age profile of stroke patients was particularly disturbing, noting that physiotherapists who previously saw stroke patients mostly in their 60s, 70s and 80s were now attending to much younger patients.

He urged young Nigerians to abandon the belief that age automatically guarantees good health, calling for regular health checks regardless of whether symptoms were present.

Another senior management staff member from the department, Oseni Kolawole, stated that undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes, unhealthy lifestyles, workplace pressure, poor diet and inadequate medical checks were exposing an increasing number of working-age Nigerians to stroke.

“Decades ago, when patients were referred for physiotherapy, they were always over 60, 70 or 80. But now, we see people in their mid-30s, 40s, 46 years and early 50s coming down with stroke,” he said.

An Assistant Director in the department, Toyin Bash Odutola, called for a stronger culture of preventive healthcare, urging Nigerians to regularly monitor their blood pressure, blood sugar and other health indicators.

She also stressed the importance of physical activity, healthier diets, adequate rest and early medical intervention.

Odutola, alongside another Chief Physiotherapist from the department, Ilara Folarin, added that physiotherapy remained an important component of stroke rehabilitation, particularly in helping survivors regain movement, strength, balance, independence and other lost functions. (The Sun)

•Personnel of Lagos State General Hospital, Gbagada, Physiotherapy Department during the Awareness Walk to celebrate World Physiotherapy Day 2026, on Tuesday. Photo: Lukman Olabiyi