Stroke in the developing world

Abstract

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in most western populations after coronary-heart disease and cancer? It is thus the commonest life-threatening neurological disorder, and the resulting disability is the most important single cause of severe disability among western people living in their own homes) The burden of stroke on patients, their families, and society is, correctly, publicised in most developed countries. Stroke in the developing world is less well documented, and some data are not retrievable because of the language barrier or the limited dissemination of data collected. However, more than two-thirds of the world's population live in developing countries, and one of the consensus statements from the Asia-Pacific Consensus Forum on Stroke Management predicts that "In the next 30 years the burden of stroke will grow most in developing countries rather than in developed countries"? Thus stroke in developing countries ought to be examined further--in particular, the similarities and differences in stroke between developed and developing countries.