Risk of death by stroke down 24%

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has revealed that the risk of death and disability after a stroke fell significantly between 2000 and 2015.

As a result, an estimated 6,300 more patients annually are surviving their stroke, according to the research.

Accounting for population changes, the study found that the risk of death from stroke fell by 24% over the study period, with the one-year death rate dropping from 32.6% in 2000 to 20.15% in 2015. Further, the risk of disability after a stroke fell by 23%, from 34.7% in 2000 to 26.7% in 2015.

"It’s really positive news to see that for patients who do have a stroke, the risk of death and disability is decreasing," commented Dr Yanzhong Wang, reader in Medical Statistics at King’s College London. "Alongside our previous work showing a reduction in the rate of strokes it shows that, although there is still more to do, trends are moving in the right direction.

"We think the change is due to improvements to the way we treat stroke, such as higher admission rates to hospital, increased use of CT and MRI scans, and more frequent treatment with thrombolytic and anticoagulant medications in the acute phase of stroke. We also believe that a shift towards patients having less severe strokes, perhaps caused by improved public health, could also play a role in the change.

Stroke is a serious condition that occurs when blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. It is the fourth single leading cause of death in England and Wales, and the third biggest cause of death in Scotland and Northern Ireland, with almost 38,000 people dying as a result of stroke in the UK in 2016.

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