Would you know the symptoms of a stroke if it were to strike? Stroke is the second leading cause of disability in the world. Worldwide, fifteen million people suffer strokes each year and a third of them die as a result. Another third becomes permanently disabled. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.
The incidence of stroke is decreasing in the industrial world but increasing in the developing world. Frighteningly, it’s estimated that stroke mortality will triple in the next twenty years in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. ( Stroke can strike anyone at any age, although it is much more common in people over the age of 60.
