Air pollution, high temperatures, and risk factors such as obesity and high blood pressure are driving global increases in stroke, research suggests.
Although stroke is very preventable and treatable, latest figures estimate there are 12 million cases and more than seven million deaths from stroke each year.
However, researchers say there are “tremendous opportunities” to alter the trajectory of stroke risk for the next generation, because so many risk factors can be addressed.
Between 1990 and 2021, the number of people who had a new stroke rose by 70 per cent, and the number who died from a stroke increased by 44 per cent, according to the findings.
Experts suggest this increase is due to both population growth and people living longer, as well as a substantial increase in people’s exposure to environmental and behavioural risk factors.
A stroke is a serious life-threatening medical condition that happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off.
The findings of the new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) indicate the condition is the third leading cause of death worldwide, after coronary heart disease and Covid-19.
The study, published in The Lancet Neurology journal and presented at the World Stroke Congress in Abu Dhabi, found that more than three-quarters of those affected by strokes live in low- and middle-income countries.
Co-author Dr Catherine Johnson, lead research scientist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in the US, said: “With 84 per cent of the stroke burden linked to 23 modifiable risk factors there are tremendous opportunities to alter the trajectory of stroke risk for the next generation.
“Given that ambient air pollution is reciprocally linked with ambient temperature and climate change, the importance of urgent climate actions and measures to reduce air pollution cannot be overestimated.
“And with increasing exposure to risk factors such as high blood sugar and diet high in sugar-sweetened drinks, there is a critical need for interventions focused on obesity and metabolic syndromes.
“Identifying sustainable ways to work with communities to take action to prevent and control modifiable risk factors for stroke is essential to address this growing crisis.”
The condition is preventable, but the research suggests 84 per cent of strokes in 2021 were linked to 23 risk factors that can be addressed.
These included air pollution, excess body weight, high blood pressure, smoking, and physical inactivity.
The study suggests that the contribution of high temperatures to poor health and early death due to stroke has risen 72 per cent since 1990.
For the first time, the study reveals the contribution of particulate matter air pollution to a fatal brain bleed.
It contributed to 14 per cent of the death and disability caused by this serious stroke subtype, with the study indicating it is on a par with smoking.
In order to reduce the burden of stroke, effective, accessible, and affordable measures to improve stroke surveillance, prevention (with the emphasis on managing blood pressure, lifestyle, and environmental factors), care, and rehabilitation need to be urgently implemented across all countries, the experts say.
Dr Eithne Sexton, a lecturer in the School of Population Health at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the research was “very relevant” to Ireland as it highlights the link between strokes and ageing.
“Ireland is no exception to this trend, and in fact the population in Ireland is ageing more rapidly than many other high-income countries. Stroke services in Ireland are already struggling to meet current need, especially when it comes to rehabilitation and other support services that people need after they leave hospital,” she said. – PA