THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : A recent study by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) has highlighted how comorbidities can significantly increase the risk and severity of strokes. The research, published in eLife journal, emphasises the crucial role of genetic factors across different ethnicities and regional disparities in exacerbating stroke burdens. According to the research, effective stroke prevention strategies should prioritise managing these underlying comorbid factors to alleviate their impact.
Moinak Banerjee, a researcher associated with the Neurobiology Division of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, said, “The underlying genetic factors are critical in determining and defining the regional variations that influence stroke and its comorbidities, which in turn can define the burden of stroke.”
The study revealed that metabolic risk in America and Europe and vascular risk in Asian and African regions are the major drivers for stroke. Stressing the need to understand the epidemiological observations for major conditions or their comorbid conditions from a genetic viewpoint, the study aims to aid health policymakers in understanding the areas of concern.
This extensive study, covering 204 countries and based on data collected from 2009-2019 for stroke and its major comorbid risks, examined a total of eleven diseases. These included overall stroke, its subtypes ischemic stroke (IS), intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), as well as comorbid factors like ischemic heart disease (IHD), diabetes type 1 & type 2, chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, high body mass index (BMI), and high LDL cholesterol.
Chandrabhas Narayana, director of RGCB, described the study as pivotal in shaping stroke prevention and management strategies from a population perspective.
The research challenges the conventional approach, where public health researchers often view stroke burdens solely through socio-economic lenses, while biomedical researchers tend to focus on isolated aspects of the disease.
In 2019 alone, strokes affected more than 101 million people globally and caused over 6.55 million deaths, underscoring its significant impact on global health.