Brain Awareness Week brings awareness to stroke risk, observes GlobalData

13 Mar, 2023 Brain Awareness Week brings awareness to stroke risk, observes GlobalData

Posted in Medical Devices

Brain Awareness Week is an annual global campaign that takes place from March 13-19, aimed at raising awareness and support for brain science and issues related to the brain and nervous system. One of the conditions that the campaign seeks to highlight is stroke. In the US, strokes rank as the fifth leading cause of death, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Alexandra Murdoch, Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: "There are two kinds of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic stokes. Ischemic strokes are far more common, accounting for roughly 80% of stroke cases, but hemorrhagic strokes are usually more damaging."

According to GlobalData, the incidence of ischemic stroke in the US is 0.2% as of 2022, and that number is expected to slowly increase to 0.3% by 2030. As for hemorrhagic stroke, GlobalData forecasts suggest that the incidence rates in the US were 0.02% in 2022 and are predicted to rise to 0.03% by 2030.

Murdoch continues: "Time is a really important factor when discussing stroke treatment. It is crucial to seek medical attention when stroke symptoms occur to treat it as quickly as possible. Some common symptoms are sudden dizziness, confusion, severe headache, difficulty speaking, double vision, weakness, and numbness in an arm, leg, or face, especially on one side."

Ischemic strokes occur when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked due to a clot. The clot can originate in the heart (cardioembolic stroke) or it could be from atherosclerosis, a clot from the arterial plaques of fatty material in or outside of the brain. The effects of an ischemic stroke depend on where the blockage is and the size of the blocked artery.

On the other hand, hamorrhagic strokes are less common but usually more severe. A ruptured blood vessel bleeds directly into the brain (intracerebral hemorrhage) or into the space between the brain and the skull (subarachnoid hemorrhage). Hemorrhagic strokes usually affect large brain areas, so their consequences are more widespread and often worsen faster.

Murdoch concludes: "Protecting brain is important for stoke prevention. To prevent health problems, it is advisable to stop smoking, exercise regularly, eat healthy, and avoid alcohol intake in excess."