ABSTRACT
Stroke is an expensive illness because it produces prolonged disability, much of which is mental. Half a million people suffer strokes annually and two-thirds of them survive to suffer a long and disabling illness. On some estimates, the cost of stroke in the United States is $43 billion each year (www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/backgrounder), but this figure is probably too low because the proportion of dementia that is vascular is not certain (see Chapter 16) and dementia is a major financial burden, both to the taxpayers and the individual.
