Stroke Mortality Rates

In the United States of America, stroke is the third leading cause of death and it kills almost 140,000 people each year, more particularly on average one American dies from stroke every 4 minutes. Every year 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. In this, 610,000 are first and new and 185,000 are recurrent strokes. Nearly 75% of all strokes occur in people above the age of 65. The risk of having a stroke increases after the age of 55 but it can occur at any age. Stroke mortality rates are higher for African-Americans than for whites, even at younger ages (Mozaffarian et al., 2015). The number of people living with stroke is expected to increase by 4 million by the year 2030 (Heidenreich et al., 2011).

Clinical types and subtypes of stroke
Stroke can be broadly classified in two major clinical types: hemorrhagic stroke (bleedings) and ischemic strokes (Clots). Ischemic strokes are sometimes also denoted ‘cerebral infarctions’ and are caused by either cerebral thrombosis or embolism and account for 50-85% of all strokes worldwide. Hemorrhagic strokes are caused by subarachnoid hemorrhage or intracerebral hemorrhage and account for 1-7% and 7-27% respectively of all strokes worldwide
Risk factors for stroke may be divided into modifiable and non-modifiable. Non-modifiable risk factors for stroke include age, sex, ethnicity and heredity. Hypertension, smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asymptomatic carotid stenosis, atrial fibrillation, dyslipidemia, unhealthy diet, obesity, physical inactivity and post-menopausal hormone therapy are established modifiable risk factors for stroke (Goldstein et al., 2001). The estimated stroke risk also increases with the number of modifiable risk factors that co-occur in an individual (Lloyd-Jones et al., 2009). Risk factors can be changed or controlled