ABSTRACT
Among all neurological illnesses stroke is the most common cause of mortality, and it ranks third, after coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancer, as a leading cause of death in the United States. The American Heart Association estimated that in 1997 there were 500,000 new strokes and almost 4 million stroke survivors (American Heart Association, 1997). Broderick et al., (1998), taking into account the racial and ethnic heterogeneity in the United States, have estimated that 731,000 strokes occurred in 1996. Several community-based studies from Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States have found a similar incidence (Sudlow & Warlow, 1997). In the United States the lifetime cost per person of Wrst strokes (averaged for all stroke subtypes) is around $100,000, and the aggregate lifetime cost for Wrst strokes in 1990 was $40.6 billion (Taylor et al., 1996). As the world population ages, the incidence of acute stroke and the prevalence of disabled stroke survivors is expected to increase. Greater understanding of the pathophysiology and etiology of stroke, as well as the development of preventive and therapeutic measures, should be a major focus of research in the years to come.
