Since 1975, stroke mortality plummeted from 88 to 31 per 100,0000 for women and 112 to 39 per 100,0000 for men, but since 2020 it has been creeping back up. 

Strokes haven't seen a huge resurgence yet because Baby Boomers, and soon Generation X, have the biggest risk for it like aging is for most diseases. For example, a 10 percent reduction in the fatality rate for 75-year-olds would more than offset a doubling of the fatality rate among 35-year-olds because strokes are 100 times more common in 75-year-olds. Yet that Millennials are seeing higher numbers than previous generations at their ages is a concern.

The analysis used a comprehensive death-certificate database to identify virtually every adult under the age of 85 who died from a stroke during the 44 years – 4,332,220 deaths in all. This “age-period-cohort analysis,” which further divided patients by their age at death, also allowed the study team to show that the health care  industry is doing its job. Stroke fatality rates have fallen more for ischemic strokes, which occur when blood vessels to the brain are blocked, than hemorrhagic strokes, which occur when blood vessels leak or burst. The ischemic stroke fatality rate fell roughly 80 percent over the study period, while the hemorrhagic stroke fatality rate fell roughly 65 percent.

This is just an observational study so no cause can be created, which means vegetarians will say it is too much meat, supplement salespeople will say not enough supplements, and environmentalists will say too many chemicals that are not organic certified, but without smoking as a known culprit it is likely too much alcohol and food without enough exercise.