Building a Platform for East-West Communication in Stroke Research: Report of the Third International Stroke Summit, Wuhan, China, November 1–3, 2007

Abstract

Many Chinese doctors are familiar with and have experiences in treating stroke with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), such as herb medicines, acupuncture, massage and moxibustion. Although TCM has been performed in China in stroke prevention and treatment for more then 3,000 years, the efficacy and safety of these strategies need to be measured by the standards of evidence-based medicine. To accomplish this, Chinese doctors must possess the knowledge of evidence-based medicine, such as how to launch a randomized controlled trial. An east-west communication platform will provide such cognitive and methodological knowledge for Chinese doctors. To improve stroke management and prevention in China and other developing countries, the International Stroke Society (ISS), now merged with the World Stroke Federation (WSF) into the World Stroke Organization (WSO), initiated a sequential conference, the International Stroke Summit, in China in 2004. The First International Stroke Summit was held in Beijing, China, in September 2004, which was co-chaired by Julien Bogousslavsky, Xinfeng Liu and Yongjun Wang [6] . The Beijing meeting called together more than 2,000 researchers and doctors from China and many other countries. The Second International Stroke Summit was held in Nanjing, China, in August 2006, which was co-chaired by Geoffrey Donnan and Xinfeng Liu [7] . The Nanjing meeting convened more than 1,000 clinicians and researchers from China and other countries. The Third International Stroke Summit was held in Wuhan, China, on November 1–3, 2007. This meeting was organized by the Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Wuhan First Hospital and Wuhan Medical Association. A total of 650 doctors and researchers attended, and 50 scholars from different countries reported their studies during the 3-day meeting. As in the previous meetings, the motif of narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries in stroke management was As the most populous country, China has the biggest number of stroke victims in the world. With the aging of population and westernizing of lifestyle in recent years, the incidence and prevalence of stroke are increasing, while the onset ages of stroke are decreasing in China. According to recent epidemiological studies, stroke has become the leading cause of death in many parts of the country [1] . The socioeconomic cost of stroke has been climbing at an unprecedented speed in recent years, and there is no evidence that this trend will change in the near future. In contrast to the persistently growing number of patients, research on stroke in China lags behind that in western countries. As a result, prevention and management of stroke in China are far from satisfactory. The control ratio of modifiable risk factors for stroke is low. Patients treated with thrombolysis and in well-organized stroke units are very few compared to the huge patient population. Mortality, morbidity and recurrence of stroke are unacceptably high [2, 3] . Data concerning stroke epidemiology are extremely rare. Guidelines for stroke prevention and management in Chinese people were established, to a considerable degree, using the epidemiological, etiological and clinical profiles of western populations [4] . However, previous studies on stroke incidence, recurrence and risk factors discovered significant variances across countries at different stages of socioeconomic development and of different ethnic populations [5] . These variances emphasize the need for population-specific strategies on account of risk factors for stroke occurrence and recurrence. The higher morbidity, mortality and recurrence of stroke in China further increases the need for stroke research to establish population-specific strategies for stoke prevention and management. Thus, establishing a platform for communication on stroke research between scholars from developing and developed countries is of vital importance for improving stroke prevention and management in countries like China. Published online: March 7, 2008