Stroke deaths could jump 50% by 2050, study warns
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Global deaths from strokes could reach about 9.7 million a year by 2050, which would be a nearly 50% rise from 2020 levels, according to a new analysis from the World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission.
The big picture: Low- and middle-income countries will have an outsize influence on the trend, with 90% of stroke fatalities projected to be in low- and middle-income countries and just 9% in high-income countries by mid-century.
- That compared to 86% and 14% respectively in 2020.
What they're saying: The analysis, based on current global trends, portends grave human costs and massive economic disruption unless more is done to address the problem, the commission warns.
- "These estimates are indicative of the ever-increasing burden we will see in the years ahead unless urgent, effective action is taken," commission co-chair Valery L. Feigin said in a statement.
- The commission recommends improved stroke surveillance, prevention, acute care and rehabilitation.
By the numbers: The analysis projects the cost of treatment, rehabilitation and indirect costs of stroke could more than double from $891 billion in 2020 to $2.3 trillion in 2050.
- Even as the global death rate for people over 60 years old is expected to fall roughly 36% by 2050, the projected death rate for those younger than 60 will decline only 25% largely due to increasing levels of diabetes and obesity.
