Strokes Still a Major Killer, But We Know How to Prevent Them (Mostly)

Overview

Paper Summary › Explain Like I'm Five › Conflicts of Interest › Identified Limitations › Rating Explanation › Good to know › Topic Hierarchy › File Information ›

Paper Summary

Paperzilla title

Stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability globally, with the burden disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries. High blood pressure, high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, air pollution, and smoking are the top five risk factors, highlighting the importance of implementing effective primary prevention strategies.

Explain Like I'm Five

Scientists found that strokes, which are like a brain boo-boo, make many people sick or even die. Things like eating too much, not moving, smoking, and bad air can make them happen, so being healthy is super important.

Possible Conflicts of Interest

Some authors reported receiving grants, consulting fees, honoraria, travel support, or participating in advisory boards for various pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations. These potential conflicts are listed in the Declaration of Interests section of the paper.

Identified Limitations

Reliance on observational data

The study relies on observational data and modeling, which may not fully capture the complex relationships between risk factors and stroke. This limits the ability to draw definitive causal conclusions.

Use of age-standardized rates

The study uses age-standardized rates, which may mask variations in stroke burden within specific age groups.

Omission of some risk factors

The study did not include some important potential risk factors, such as atrial fibrillation and substance abuse, which could impact the overall findings.

Uncertainty in some TMRELs

Some evidence used for theoretical minimum risk exposure levels was uncertain and based on non-experimental studies.

Rating Explanation

This is a comprehensive and valuable study that provides updated estimates of the global stroke burden and its associated risk factors. The methodology is rigorous and the findings are important for guiding public health interventions. However, the limitations related to observational data, age-standardization, and omission of some risk factors prevent a perfect score.

Good to know

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Topic Hierarchy

Domain: Health Sciences

Field: Medicine

Subfield: Epidemiology

File Information

Original Title: Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Uploaded: July 14, 2025 at 05:19 PM

Privacy: Public