Stroke kills one Indian every 4 minutes, says AIIMS Neurologist 

On Thursday, Prof. M. V. Padma Srivastava, a neurologist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said, “Stroke is the second most commonest cause of death in India, killing one person in India every 4 minutes.” 

In an event held at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the neurologist said, “About 1,85,000 strokes occur every year in India with nearly one stroke happening every 40 seconds.”

According to the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), India has 68.6 per cent incidence of stroke, 70.9 per cent stroke deaths, and 77.7 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost. 

Srivastava, also a Padma Shri recipient, added, “These figures are alarming for India, particularly for people living in poor resource settings. Despite these alarming figures, many Indian hospitals lack the necessary infrastructure and organisation required to treat stroke patients quickly and efficiently and do not deliver adequate stroke care.”

The GBD analysis further indicated that the stroke burden is greater among younger and middle-aged people. About 5.2 million (31 per cent) strokes were in children aged less than 20 years, it elaborated. 

“One of the solutions for this deficiency in rich and poor resource settings in India is to adopt telestroke models in poor resource settings. Implementation of Telemedicine/telestroke facilities is an important step for bridging the economically and geographically challenged and underprivileged sections of society,” Srivastava suggested. 

According to a recent study by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in the United States, people with Covid were found to be over 2.5 times more likely to have an unfavourable outcome and face a difficult recovery post-stroke. 

In another study published in the journal Neurology, it signified that people who have symptoms of depression may have an increased risk of having a stroke.