EBEN ENASCO REPORTING
More than thirteen million people globally are now at risk of stroke, according to the Nigeria Medical Association NMA,
The Chairman of Kwara Branch of the association, Prof. Baba Issa, made the disclosure in a statement in Ilorin on Friday.
A copy of the statement made available to newsmen says the alert was in commemoration of World Stroke Day.
The statement maintained that over 13.7 million people worldwide will have their first stroke this year, and five and a half million will die as a result.
According to the NMA, one in four adults over the age of 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime.
It noted that current trends suggest that the number of annual deaths will climb to 6.7 million annually without appropriate action.
The statement opined that, Stroke is the leading cause of death and disability globally with 116 million years of healthy life lost each year to the disease.
“It disproportionately affects individuals living in resource-poor countries. From 2000 to 2008, the overall stroke incidence rates in low- to middle-income countries exceeded that of incidence rates seen in high-income countries by 20 percent,” the statement read in part.
The association observed that two out of every three people who suffer from a stroke live in low- and middle-income countries.
It described stroke as a condition where the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, resulting in oxygen starvation, brain damage and loss of function of parts of the body controlled by the affected parts of the brain.
World Stroke Day is commemorated every October 29, annually, to increase awareness and drive action on the disease around the world, as it has already reached epidemic levels