Stroke
Stroke was the second most common cause of death worldwide in 2004, resulting in 5.7 million deaths (~10% of the total). Approximately 9 million people had a stroke in 2008 and 30 million people have previously had a stroke and are still alive. It is ranked after heart disease and before cancer. Geographic disparities in stroke incidence have been observed, including the existence of a "stroke belt" in the southeastern United States, but causes of these disparities have not been explained.
The incidence of stroke increases exponentially from 30 years of age, and etiology varies by age. Advanced age is one of the most significant stroke risk factors. 95% of strokes occur in people age 45 and older, and two-thirds of strokes occur in those over the age of 65. A person's risk of dying if he or she does have a stroke also increases with age. However, stroke can occur at any age, including in childhood.
Family members may have a genetic tendency for stroke or share a lifestyle that contributes to stroke. Higher levels of Von Willebrand factor are more common amongst people who have had ischemic stroke for the first time. The results of this study found that the only significant genetic factor was the person's blood type. Having had a stroke in the past greatly increases one's risk of future strokes.
Men are 25% more likely to suffer strokes than women, yet 60% of deaths from stroke occur in women. Since women live longer, they are older on average when they have their strokes and thus more often killed (NIMH 2002). Some risk factors for stroke apply only to women. Primary among these are pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and the treatment thereof (HRT).
Read more about Stroke: History
Other articles related to "stroke, strokes":
... was named for the size of its very small air-cooled, 2-stroke inline 2-cylinder 356 cc engine mounted transversely at the rear ... contrast, most conventional automobiles at the time used water-cooled four-stroke engines with 4 or more cylinders mounted in the front ... Two-stroke engines are lighter, simpler, easier to cold start, and produce more power for less weight because they produce power every two piston strokes ...
... engine configuration 1,781 cubic centimetres (108.7 cu in) inline-four engine (R4/I4) bore x stroke 81.0 by 86.4 millimetres (3.19 in × 3.40 in), stroke ...
... Flapping involves two stages the down-stroke, which provides the majority of the thrust, and the up-stroke, which can also (depending on the bird's wings) provide some thrust ... At each up-stroke the wing is slightly folded inwards to reduce upward resistance ... Birds change the angle of attack between the up-stroke and the down-stroke of their wings ...
... Brain tissue survival can be improved to some extent if one or more of these processes is inhibited ... Drugs that scavenge reactive oxygen species, inhibit apoptosis, or inhibit excitatory neurotransmitters, for example, have been shown experimentally to reduce tissue injury caused by ischemia ...
... In handwriting research, the concept of stroke is used in various ways ... In engineering and computer science, there is a tendency to use the term stroke for a single connected component of ink (in Off-line handwriting recognition) or a complete pen-down trace (in ... Thus, such stroke may be a complete character or a part of a character ...
Famous quotes containing the word stroke:
“I should like to suggest that at least on the face of it a stroke by stroke story of a copulation is exactly as absurd as a chew by chew account of the consumption of a chicken’s wing.”
—William Gass (b. 1924)
“As the artist
extends his world with
one gratuitous flourish—a stroke of white or
a run on the clarinet above the
bass tones of the orchestra ...”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“He will not idly dance at his work who has wood to cut and cord before nightfall in the short days of winter; but every stroke will be husbanded, and ring soberly through the wood; and so will the strokes of that scholar’s pen, which at evening record the story of the day, ring soberly, yet cheerily, on the ear of the reader, long after the echoes of his axe have died away.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)