Health
Michigan mom: ‘I had a stroke at 39 — and the warning signs weren’t what you’d expect’
Jenna Gibson was just 39 when she was training for a marathon five years ago — but her plans were cut short by a stroke that almost took her life.
Nearly 60% of stroke deaths occur in women, according to a recent study by Mayo Clinic — and now Gibson, a Michigan mother of two, aims to help others to be more aware and prioritize their health.
“Once I learned that strokes are happening to younger people, I had to share my story,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“In most cases, strokes are preventable if you know what to look for.”
On the day of Gibson’s stroke, she was feeling great.
Jenna Gibson was just 39 years old when she was training for a marathon five years ago — but her plans were cut short by a stroke that nearly took her life. (Jenna Gibson)
It was a beautiful day, she’d nailed a presentation at work, and she was enjoying a walk outside with her mother after dinner.
“We were talking about how I was training for the Detroit marathon for my 40th birthday, and then all of a sudden, out of the blue, it felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks,” she told Fox News Digital.
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Gibson stopped walking, then suddenly fell over into the grass.
Her mother thought she was joking at first. “She actually took a picture of me lying in the grass, saying, ‘C’mon, get up, what are you doing?’”
“They could see there was a blockage on the left side of my brain, and I was actively having a stroke.”
Her mother helped her up, but Gibson couldn’t walk straight.
“I felt like I was drunk — something just wasn’t right,” she said.
Even so, Gibson did not experience any of the textbook symptoms of a stroke, such as the facial droop, severe headache or vision disturbances.
When Gibson first fell onto the grass, her mother thought she was joking — and snapped this picture. As it turned out, Gibson was in the early stages of having a stroke. (Jenna Gibson)
They made it back home, where Gibson assumed she was having a migraine. She took some headache medicine and went to bed.
“A couple of hours later, I woke up and still didn’t feel right — I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t move,” she recalled.
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That’s when they headed to the emergency room. Gibson’s mother told the medical team that her daughter was having trouble walking and might be having a stroke.
“They checked me over, did all the tests, and didn’t see the typical signs that they would be looking for,” Gibson said. “Part of it was because I was young.”
“I could walk, although not very well. I could get some words out.”
She added, “I didn’t have the facial droop. I could walk, although not very well. I could get some words out.”
After a CT scan, the medical team decided that Gibson was likely having an optic migraine. The next morning, when she still wasn’t feeling right, the neurologist ordered another scan with contrast — and that time, the stroke finally showed up.
Gibson is pictured with her husband and two daughters, who were ages 8 and 4 at the time of her stroke in 2019. (Jenna Gibson)
“They could see that there was a blockage on the left side of my brain, and I was actively having a stroke,” she said.
Gibson was immediately airlifted to another hospital, where she had emergency brain surgery to remove the blood clot.
“There was obviously a risk of death — if we didn’t move fast enough, the time frame would be over,” she said.
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As she was flown to the hospital, Gibson said she felt certain she was going to die and would never again see her husband or her daughters, who were just 8 and 4 at the time.
“I thought I’d never get to see my children grow up and get married, or that I’d have to live in some kind of vegetative state and would never work again.”
Gibson is pictured with her two daughters in the hospital after her stroke. Her first “assignment” was to tell her daughters that she loved them — and that “Mommy’s going to be OK.” (Jenna Gibson)
“I was thinking, ‘Did I tell my girls enough times that Mommy loves them? Does my husband know how proud I am of him?’”
The next thing she knew, Gibson was waking up from surgery in the ICU — and facing a long road to recovery.
“At first, I couldn’t speak at all. I couldn’t move my right side. I was trapped in my head — I could see what was happening and hear people asking me questions, but I couldn’t answer.”
‘By the grace of God’
Over the next few days, Gibson said her capabilities slowly started coming back.
She received speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy — and over time began to regain movement on her right side.
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Her first “assignment” was to tell her daughters that she loved them and that “Mommy’s going to be OK.”
After a couple of weeks, Gibson returned home and continued with outpatient therapy for three hours a day, three days a week for a four-month period.
“It was during the first six weeks that we saw the quickest improvement, and then after that, it was slower and slower,” she said.
“I had to relearn everything. And now, by the grace of God, I can do all the things.”
“I was thinking, ‘Did I tell my girls enough times that Mommy loves them? Does my husband know how proud I am of him?’” Gibson said about her stroke. She is pictured here with her husband and two daughters. (Jenna Gibson)
Today, Gibson is still completely numb on the entire right side of her body. She also still sometimes struggles with finding the right words while speaking, she said, especially when she’s tired or stressed.
“But if you saw me, I look like a normal person,” she said.
And in a full-circle moment, Gibson was finally able to complete the half-marathon last October.
‘Every second counts’
Dr. Annie Tsui, chief of neurology at Access TeleCare, who is based in Texas, emphasized the prevalence of strokes among women and urged awareness.
“Strokes can occur for various reasons across different age groups and genders,” Tsui, who was not involved in Gibson’s care, told Fox News Digital. “Even though strokes can occur at any age, women between the ages of 20 and 39 are at twice the risk compared to men.”
While the primary risk factors for stroke are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity and diabetes, the causes for strokes in younger age groups differ from those typically associated with older people, Tsui noted.
After her stroke was diagnosed, Gibson was airlifted to another hospital to get emergency brain surgery. (Jenna Gibson)
Those may include cardiac issues, blood clotting disorders, genetic predispositions, vascular abnormalities or trauma.
“Although no one is completely immune to the risk of stroke, individuals at higher risk should work with their doctor to develop a prevention plan,” Tsui advised. “In general, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is crucial, as up to 80% of strokes can be prevented.”
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It’s crucial to be aware of the symptoms to receive treatment as quickly as possible, according to Tsui.
She recommends using the FAST acronym, shown below, as a convenient tool for identifying stroke indicators.
- Face (drooping or numbness)
- Arm (weakness or numbness)
- Speech (slurring or difficulty speaking)
- T for time to call 911
Gibson underwent four months of intensive physical and occupational therapy during her recovery. (Jenna Gibson)
“The chances of survival and positive outcomes are highest when the patient receives prompt medical attention,” Tsui told Fox News Digital.
Some stroke treatments are only effective if administered within three hours of when symptoms begin, she warned — with the risk of permanent brain damage or death rising with each passing minute.
“It’s important to be vigilant in recognizing stroke symptoms and to seek medical assistance immediately at the first sign,” Tsui said.
“Every second counts in reducing the risk of brain injury, permanent disability or even death.”
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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A drug that has long been used to treat seizures has shown promise as a potential means of Alzheimer’s prevention, a new study suggests.
The anti-seizure medication, levetiracetam, was first approved by the FDA in November 1999 under the brand name Keppra as a therapy for partial-onset seizures in adults. The approval has since expanded to include children and other types of seizures.
Northwestern University researchers recently found that levetiracetam prevented the formation of toxic amyloid beta peptides, which are small protein fragments in the brain that are commonly seen in Alzheimer’s patients.
The medication was found to prevent the formation of amyloid-beta 42 in both animal models and cultured human neurons, according to the study findings, which were published in Science Translational Medicine.
The effect was also seen in post-mortem human brain tissue obtained from individuals with Down syndrome, who are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
The medication was found to prevent the formation of amyloid-beta 42 in both animal models and cultured human neurons. (iStock)
“While many of the Alzheimer’s drugs currently on the market, such as lecanemab and donanemab, are approved to clear existing amyloid plaques, we’ve identified this mechanism that prevents the production of the amyloid‑beta 42 peptides and amyloid plaques,” said corresponding author Jeffrey Savas, associate professor of behavioral neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in a press release.
“Our new results uncovered new biology while also opening doors for new drug targets.”
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The brain is better able to avoid the pathway that produces toxic amyloid‑beta 42 proteins in younger years, but the aging process gradually weakens that ability, Savas noted.
“This is not a statement of disease; this is just a part of aging. But in brains developing Alzheimer’s, too many neurons go astray, and that’s when you get amyloid-beta 42 production,” he said.
The effect was also seen in post-mortem human brain tissue obtained from individuals with Down syndrome, who are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease. (iStock)
That then leads to tau (“tangles”) — abnormal clumps of protein inside brain neurons — which can kill brain cells, trigger neuroinflammation and lead to dementia.
In order for levetiracetam to function as an Alzheimer’s blocker, high-risk patients would have to start taking it “very, very early,” Savas said — up to 20 years before elevated amyloid-beta 42 levels would be detected.
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“You couldn’t take this when you already have dementia, because the brain has already undergone a number of irreversible changes and a lot of cell death,” the researcher noted.
The researchers also did a deep dive into previous human clinical data to determine whether Alzheimer’s patients who were taking the anti-seizure drug had slower cognitive decline. They reported that the patients in that category had a “significant delay” in the span from cognitive decline to death compared to those not taking the drug.
“This analysis supports the positive effect of levetiracetam to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s pathology,” the researcher said. (iStock)
“Although the magnitude of change was small (on the scale of a few years), this analysis supports the positive effect of levetiracetam to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s pathology,” Savas said.
Looking ahead, the research team aims to find people who have genetic forms of Alzheimer’s to participate in testing, Savas said.
Limitations and caveats
The study had several limitations, including that it relied on animal models and cultured cells, with no human trials conducted.
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Because the study was observational in nature, it can’t prove that the medication caused the prevention of the toxic brain proteins, the researchers acknowledged.
Savas noted that levetiracetam “is not perfect,” cautioning that it breaks down in the body very quickly.
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The team is currently working to create a “better version” that would last longer in the body and “better target the mechanism that prevents the production of the plaques.”
“You couldn’t take this when you already have dementia, because the brain has already undergone a number of irreversible changes and a lot of cell death.”
The medication’s common documented side effects include drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, irritability, headache, loss of appetite and nasal congestion.
It has also been linked to potential mood and behavior changes, including anxiety, depression, agitation and aggression, according to the prescribing information. In rare cases, it could lead to severe allergic reactions, skin reactions, blood disorders and suicidal ideation.
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Funding for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health and the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.
Fox News Digital reached out to the drug manufacturer and the researchers for comment.
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