Stroke
Every three seconds someone in the world experiences a stroke, while over the last 20 years, the lifetime risk of stroke has increased by 50 percent. Each year, approximately 12 million people worldwide experience a stroke, of which 20-30% will be a recurrent stroke.
Stroke presents an overwhelming financial burden for both healthcare systems and patients.
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What is a stroke?
Stroke is a medical emergency that needs immediate treatment to prevent brain cell death. Strokes can be classified into two major categories: hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke.
- Hemorrhagic strokes: these are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel which leads to bleeding inside the brain.
- Ischemic strokes: constituting 87 percent of all strokes, these are caused by an interruption of blood supply to the brain due to a blockage e.g. a blood clot. When the blood cannot reach the brain, brain cells die due to lack of oxygen.
1 in 4 adults are predicted to experience a stroke in their lifetime.
What are the signs and symptoms of stroke?
Stroke may result in severely restricted movement, paralysis, loss of speech or vision, which may be permanent, or even death.
What is the long-term outlook for stroke survivors?
Discover the journeys of stroke survivors.
An estimated 93.8 million people worldwide are living with the consequences of stroke.
Reducing the likelihood of secondary stroke currently involves minimizing risk factors, coupled with antiplatelet therapy to reduce the risk of clots forming.
Even with currently available therapies, approximately one in five ischemic stroke survivors will have another stroke within five years, which is often more disabling, more likely to be fatal, and more costly than the first stroke.
The risk of secondary stroke remains unacceptably high.
The annual financial impact of stroke is now $891 billion and is expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2030.
How are stroke survivors and their caregivers supported?
After a stroke, stroke survivors and their care partners often need ongoing, compassionate support. Primary care and rehabilitation services help manage health needs, support recovery, and connect families with community resources. Caregivers can also access counselling and respite services to protect their own wellbeing while caring for their loved one.
Understand the care partner perspective: Click here
Life After Stroke
Hear directly from people that have been affected by stroke: their journeys, challenges, resilience and hope.
Our commitment in the field of stroke
Stroke has wide-reaching effects on patients, families, and communities and we at Bayer are dedicated to addressing these challenges through improved patient care, education, and prevention.
We are committed to advance stroke care from diagnosis to acute treatment, to prevention and driving research to alleviate the widespread, debilitating impact of stroke and improve patient outcomes.
Building on our long heritage and expertise in thrombosis management, we are striving to address unmet medical needs, seeking to provide alternative approaches that may offer improved benefit-risk profiles.