Stroke patients getting younger and younger

Worldwide study: In stroke, patients are getting younger and younger

26/10/2013

According to a study, more and more younger people worldwide are suffering a stroke. Approximately one third of the cases affected the youngest and middle age groups. It is expected that by the year 2030 the numbers will triple.

Researchers from 50 countries participated
The number of strokes among 20- to 64-year-olds has increased by a quarter worldwide in the last 20 years. This reports an international research team after a comprehensive data analysis in the journal „The Lancet“. According to the scientists, by 2030 the number of those who will be ill or disabled as a result of a stroke, or who die prematurely, will double. A total of 486 researchers from 50 countries, led by Valery Feigin, director of the National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences at the Auckland University of Technology (Auckland, New Zealand), evaluated 119 studies that reported strokes between 1990 and 2010.

83,000 under-20s suffer stroke
The analysis of the numbers would have shown that now almost one third of all strokes (31 percent) occur in 20- to 64-year-olds as well as in children (under 20 years). Every year about 83,000 of the under-20's suffered a stroke. The scientists also reported that in 2010, 16.9 million people worldwide had a stroke for the first time. Compared to 1990, this is an increase of 68 percent. Overall, the rate of deaths is declining. But the absolute number of deaths had increased by 26 percent to 5.9 million.

Poorer countries particularly hard hit
It was also analyzed which regions of the world are particularly affected. The researchers found clear differences between nations with high and those with middle and low income. In the worst affected countries of Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and East Asia, death rates are up to ten times higher than in the least affected countries of Western Europe, North America, and Australia. The increased proportion of strokes in younger people is mainly due to a significant increase in cases in the poorer countries.

Better education and provision in rich countries
It is believed that certain risk factors such as unhealthy diet, hypertension, smoking or lack of exercise have increased in these countries. In contrast, there would be the richer countries, where improved education and preparedness as well as the establishment of „stroke units“, So specialized stroke facilities would have led to a reduction in strokes and its consequences.

Many deaths attributed to stroke
The researchers also found in a second study, that more than half of the deaths due to a so-called hemorrhagic stroke, also called stroke. Even though this form is only half as common as ischemic stroke, which causes a sudden circulatory disorder in the brain, usually caused by a narrowing of blood vessels. In a stroke, there is initially a hemorrhage in the brain and because the escaping blood elsewhere missing or thereby areas of the brain can be squeezed together, it comes as a result of a circulatory disorder. The results published by the scientists in the journal „The Lancet Global Health“.

Situation in Germany
Last year estimates by experts from the Center for Stroke Research at the Berlin Charité were published, according to which around 270,000 people in Germany suffer a stroke each year. Almost 70,000 patients do not survive the incident, according to the Federal Statistical Office. A stroke can be prevented in many cases. This way you could reduce the risk by minimizing the risk factors. The main risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, lack of physical activity and pre-existing conditions such as diabetes. (Ad)