South Africa has a higher rate of people disabled by strokes than most developed countries, a Southern African Stroke Prevention (Saspi) report revealed on Monday.
The report said South African men were more at risk from having a stroke than women, although the research suggested that diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol were higher in rural females. Stroke is the fourth most common cause of death in the country.
”The prevalence of stroke in South Africa is double that of rural Tanzania and just under half of typical high income countries like New Zealand,” the report said.
”What is alarming though is that when disabled stroke — defined as people needing help with at least one activity of daily living — statistics are compared, South Africa is significantly higher than New Zealand.”
The report was presented by Saspi researcher Dr Myles Connor in Johannesburg to mark Stroke Awareness Week.
The Saspi study, launched in 2001, sought to look into the causes and social context of strokes and related cardiovascular risk, and the escalating non-communicable disease mortality among older women. The research was conducted among 42 378 people over the age of 15.
Connor, who is also a neurologist at the University of the Witwatersrand, said stroke was one of the least recognised and worst treated chronic diseases of lifestyle in South Africa.
It causes between seven and 10 percent of all deaths in the 35 to 64 age group.
The Saspi research looked into two main types of stroke — the ischaemic and the haemorrhagic.
Ischaemic stroke is caused by the blockage of blood flow to the brain. The blockage might be caused by atherosclerosis, which was essentially a disease of lifestyle and very common in high income or developed countries.
Atherosclerosis is clogging of the arteries, which was a common cause of clots, which form in the arteries leading to the brain.
Connor said haemorrhagic strokes occurred when blood vessels in the brain rupture, causing damage to the brain area. This was mostly due to high blood pressure.
HIV/Aids added to the burden of stroke, Connor said, with HIV/Aids gripping younger adult population, and stroke mainly affecting the middle-aged and elders.
”We are now looking at a young generation who will grow up without their caregivers,” he said.
”Very little is known about the causes of stroke in South Africa and Africa. It differs from population to population — the risk factors and exposure to diseases of lifestyle change, so the causes of stroke change over time.”