New Delhi, The incidence of stroke and related deaths is increasing substantially around the world, and air pollution, high temperatures and metabolic risk factors such as high blood pressure and physical inactivity are driving these increases, according to published estimates. in the journal The Lancet Neurology.
Researchers found that the contribution of high temperatures to poor health and premature death due to stroke has increased 72 percent since 1990 and is likely to continue to increase in the future, highlighting how environmental factors can affect the increasing stroke burden.
Additionally, for the first time, particulate matter, or PM, air pollution was found to have the same contribution as smoking in causing a fatal form of brain hemorrhage, according to researchers behind the Global Burden of Disease, Injury, and Disease Study. and risk factors (GBD). ) cluster.
The GBD study, the "largest and most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across locations and over time," is coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, USA. USA
Globally, the number of people experiencing a stroke for the first time rose to 119 lakh in 2021, a 70 percent increase since 1990, while stroke-related deaths rose to 73 lakh, a 44 percent increase. percent since 1990. making the neurological condition the third leading cause of death after ischemic heart disease (shortage of blood supply to the heart) and COVID-19, researchers found.
They added that more than three-quarters of those affected by stroke live in low- and middle-income countries.
According to lead author Valery L. Feigin of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, the rapid growth in the number of people affected by stroke clearly suggests that the stroke prevention strategies currently used are not effective enough.
"New effective and proven individual, motivational and population-based prevention strategies should be implemented worldwide and could be applied to all people at risk of stroke, regardless of risk level, as recommended by the recent Commission of Neurology on Stroke urgently," Feigin said.
The researchers also estimated that stroke-related responsibilities attributable to 23 modifiable risk factors, including air pollution, excess body weight, high blood pressure, smoking and physical inactivity, increased from 100 million years ago. of healthy lives lost in 1990 to 135 million in 2021.
These risk factors are present in large numbers in Eastern Europe, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, they said.
The authors also recognized the substantial progress made in reducing the global burden of stroke due to risk factors related to poor diet, air pollution and smoking.
They found that poor health resulting from diets high in processed meat and low in vegetables decreased by 40 percent and 30 percent, respectively, while that due to particulate air pollution and smoking decreased by 20 percent. and 13 percent, respectively.
The results suggested that strategies to reduce exposure to these risk factors over the past three decades, such as clean air zones and public smoking bans, have been successful, the authors said.
They called for implementing and monitoring the evidence-based recommendations set out in the 2023 World Stroke Organization Lancet Neurology Commission on stroke to dramatically reduce the global burden of stroke in the coming years and improve brain health and overall well-being. of millions of people. people around the world.
Recommendations include stroke surveillance programs that monitor stroke indicators such as incidence, recurrence, mortality rates and risk factors in a country, and care and rehabilitation services for people affected by stroke.
Researchers found that the contribution of high temperatures to poor health and premature death due to stroke has increased 72 percent since 1990 and is likely to continue to increase in the future, highlighting how environmental factors can affect the increasing stroke burden.
Additionally, for the first time, particulate matter, or PM, air pollution was found to have the same contribution as smoking in causing a fatal form of brain hemorrhage, according to researchers behind the Global Burden of Disease, Injury, and Disease Study. and risk factors (GBD). ) cluster.
The GBD study, the "largest and most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across locations and over time," is coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, USA. USA
Globally, the number of people experiencing a stroke for the first time rose to 119 lakh in 2021, a 70 percent increase since 1990, while stroke-related deaths rose to 73 lakh, a 44 percent increase. percent since 1990. making the neurological condition the third leading cause of death after ischemic heart disease (shortage of blood supply to the heart) and COVID-19, researchers found.
They added that more than three-quarters of those affected by stroke live in low- and middle-income countries.
According to lead author Valery L. Feigin of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, the rapid growth in the number of people affected by stroke clearly suggests that the stroke prevention strategies currently used are not effective enough.
"New effective and proven individual, motivational and population-based prevention strategies should be implemented worldwide and could be applied to all people at risk of stroke, regardless of risk level, as recommended by the recent Commission of Neurology on Stroke urgently," Feigin said.
The researchers also estimated that stroke-related responsibilities attributable to 23 modifiable risk factors, including air pollution, excess body weight, high blood pressure, smoking and physical inactivity, increased from 100 million years ago. of healthy lives lost in 1990 to 135 million in 2021.
These risk factors are present in large numbers in Eastern Europe, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, they said.
The authors also recognized the substantial progress made in reducing the global burden of stroke due to risk factors related to poor diet, air pollution and smoking.
They found that poor health resulting from diets high in processed meat and low in vegetables decreased by 40 percent and 30 percent, respectively, while that due to particulate air pollution and smoking decreased by 20 percent. and 13 percent, respectively.
The results suggested that strategies to reduce exposure to these risk factors over the past three decades, such as clean air zones and public smoking bans, have been successful, the authors said.
They called for implementing and monitoring the evidence-based recommendations set out in the 2023 World Stroke Organization Lancet Neurology Commission on stroke to dramatically reduce the global burden of stroke in the coming years and improve brain health and overall well-being. of millions of people. people around the world.
Recommendations include stroke surveillance programs that monitor stroke indicators such as incidence, recurrence, mortality rates and risk factors in a country, and care and rehabilitation services for people affected by stroke.
