Stroke is largely preventable

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries.

The two major types of stroke include ischaemic stroke caused by blood clots, which accounts for 85% of strokes, and haemorrhagic stroke or bleeding into the brain, which accounts for 15% of strokes.

"Study confirmed the ten modifiable risk factors associated with 90% of stroke cases in all regions, young and older and in men and women. The study also confirms that hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor in all regions, and the key target in reducing the burden of stroke globally."

The investigators looked at the different risk factors, and determined the proportion of strokes which would be cut if the risk factor disappeared.

How to prevent stroke to a large extend:

If hypertension is eliminated -36%

 If people are physically active -19%

 If people take better diets -12%

  if smoking is eliminated 10%

9% for cardiac (heart) causes

4% for diabetes

6% for alcohol intake

6% for stress

27% for lipids (the study used apolipoproteins, which was found to be a better predictor of stroke than total cholesterol).

Many of these risk factors are known to also be associated with each other (such as obesity and diabetes), and when were combined together, the total for all 10 risk factors was 91%, which was similar in all regions, age groups and in men and women.

However, the importance of some risk factors appeared to vary by region. For example, the importance of hypertension ranged from practically 40% in Western Europe, North America, and Australia to 60% in Southeast Asia. The risk of alcohol was lowest in Western Europe, North America and Australia but highest in Africa and south Asia, while the potential impact of physical inactivity was highest in China.