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Stroke remains one of the most serious neurologic problems in the world today. Facts regarding stroke include:

• 700,000 new or recurrent cases of stroke occur annually in the United States, at a rate of one every 45 seconds. Approximately 500,000 are first strokes and 200,000 are second or recurrent strokes.
• Worldwide, approximately 15 million people have a stroke each year.
• Stroke kills more than 150,000 people per year, approximately one out of every 16 deaths.
• Behind heart disease and cancer, stroke is the third most common cause of death in the Western world.
• Approximately 28% of the strokes occur in patients under the age of 65.
• Approximately 22% of men and 25% of women who suffer a stroke die within a year
• The estimated cost of care and disability of stroke patients will be $62.7 billion in 2007, according to the World Health Organization.
• According the National Stroke Association nearly 5 million people in the United States today have survived a stroke which translates into stroke affecting approximately 4 out of every 5 families.
• The World Health Organization estimates that there are 15 million strokes worldwide and that high blood pressure is a major contributing factor in strokes that occur under the age of 40.

Despite gains in emergency treatments for stroke, many stroke survivors will be left with functional problems [National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Framingham Stroke Study]:

• 31% of stroke survivors require assistance in activities of daily living (ADL)
• 20% of stroke survivors require assistance in mobility
• 71% of stroke survivors who worked could not work 7 years after their strokes.