There is plenty of good news on the stroke front in the US these days. It has been found that the incidence of stroke in the US has fallen a great deal in the last 20 years, according to a recent study.
The large decreases in incidence of stroke were clear in people who are 65+, and the rate of decline was similar for men and women, and in whites and blacks. There also were decreases in total stroke deaths too, but they were mainly in younger age groups, according to the clinical study reported in JAMA.
The scientists studied more than 14,000 people who were 45-64 at the beginning of the study, following tem from 1987 to 2011. After they accounted for heart disease, high blood pressure, smoking, statin use and diabetes, they determined that stroke incidence had fallen by as much as 50% during the period, and stroke deaths fell by 40%.
Good news – stroke is on the decline in the US.
The major reasons for the drop in stroke cases appears to be because fewer people are smoking, and there are better treatment options for high blood pressure and cholesterol, according to the senior author of the research, Dr. Josef Coresh, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Also, there is better medical care before and after stroke, and overall risk factors for stroke are managed better than ever.
He noted that the large decrease in strokes means that there probably is a decrease in the smaller strokes that are harder for us to detect. Coresh noted that thing probably is a good sign for brain health as well, and could lead to a reduction in incidence in dementia with aging, too.
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