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Around 20,000 die of stroke in Iran annually

27 January 2015 17:25 (UTC+04:00)
Around 20,000 die of stroke in Iran annually

By Sara Rajabova

Nearly 20,000 people out of the around 150,000-160,000 suffering from a stroke in Iran die annually.

Hussein Pakdaman, Chairman of Iran’s Neurology Association said around 15 percent of patients suffering from stroke die in Iran and 70 percent suffer from permanent disabilities, IRNA news agency reported.

He said around 20 percent of those suffering from stroke cannot take care of themselves and 30 percent cannot move without assistance.

The factors causing a stroke are high or low blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking, drug use, as well as environmental and genetic factors.

The research on stroke in the Islamic country show that stroke in Iran is considerably greater than in most Western countries with stroke occurring at younger ages. Ischemic stroke incidence was also considerably greater than those reported in other regions.

Stroke was reported to be slightly more common in females (range from 51%-53%) in the studies that included all age groups. However, stroke was more common in young males, aged between 15-45, (52%) and in boys (59%). Also, hemorrhagic stroke was reported more commonly in women (57.9% for intracranial hemorrhage).

Some 93,000 people die from heart attacks in Iran every year. Meanwhile, many people die from myocardial infarction very often in the country, according to the recent statistics.

The number of young people suffering from cardiovascular diseases has increased in the country, the Iranian media reported.

Twenty years ago the average age of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases were 50-60 years old At present, young people aged up to 30 are suffering from these diseases. In this case, 43 percent of men and 38 percent of women in Iran are overweight, which increases the risk.

On the other hand, some studies showed that impoverished people, who have less access to medical services, are more prone to heart attacks than others.

Shahnaz Shahrokhi, a specialist in social medicine told Iran Daily that in developed countries, the well-off were previously more vulnerable to such diseases, but the trend has reversed.

Shahrokhi said about 30 percent of the total deaths in 2005 were caused by cardiovascular diseases and those below 70 years accounted for 46 percent of the deaths.

Referring to the drop in the age of people dying of heart attacks and stroke in Iran, she said a change in people's lifestyle is the main reason behind the problem.

Shahrokhi said according to the World Health Organization, 12 million deaths are caused by heart diseases and stroke in the world annually, 50 percent of which can be prevented by controlling risk factors.

She alsosaid at the beginning of 20th century, only 10 percent of total deaths were caused by cardiovascular diseases, stressing that rising urbanization and declining communicable diseases, which prolong life expectancy, helped increase the prevalence of chronic ailments, especially cardiovascular diseases.

Shahrokhi noted that regular health checkups and healthy diet and lifestyle are the best weapons to fight these diseases.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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