Stroke Risk: Can Genetic Factors, Ethnicity And Regional Disparities In Comorbidity Act As Contributing Factors?

New research findings published by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) indicates gene, ethnicity and regional disparities in co-morbidities are factors that contribute to stroke and its risks.

A study conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) revealed that risk of stroke among Indians as well as Asians may be influenced by factors such as gene, ethnicity and regional disparities in co-morbidities. The research findings were published in the Biomedical Journal eLife. These factors, according to the experts, have emerged as few of the leading causes of death due to stroke not only in India but also on a global level.

One of the researchers working with the Neurobiology division of RGCB noted that, genetic factors play a critical role in determining and defining the regional variations which may influence stroke and its comorbidities. The underlying genetic factors can define the burden of stroke. The esteemed publication wrote in their research findings, "Ethnic and region-specific genetic risk variants of stroke and its comorbid conditions can define the variations in the burden of stroke and its phenotypic traits."

How Does The Study Link Stroke With Gene, Ethnicity And Regional Disparities In Comorbodities?

The findings of the study suggest that the main contributor to the high risk of stroke in Europe and America is metabolic risk. However, in Asia and the African countries vascular risk was found to majorly influence stroke risk. This is how experts drew the link between stroke and genetic factors, ethnicity and regional disparities in comorbidities. They also concluded that comorbidities in stroke can amplify its risk as well as its outcome.

The scope of this research is one of the largest that was ever conducted covering a huge population. It included 204 countries and data was collected from the year 2009 to 2019.This particular data was collected to study the link between stroke and major comorbidity risk. Among stroke and its types, about 11 types of diseases were included as the basis of the study. For instance, the researchers studied overall stroke, its sub-types ischemic stroke (IS), intracranial haemorrhage (ICH). Along with it the comordbid factors for instance, ischemic heart disease(IHD), diabetes type 1 & type 2, chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, high body mass index(BMI), and high LDL cholesterol were also included as the basis of the study.

Stroke Is A Global Concern

Stroke is a major debilitating disease which can turn fatal. Its symptoms can range from mild to moderate to severe. Although there are many early signs of stroke that can be diagnosed by medical expert but the risk of sudden fatal strokes are also very high. On a global scale, stroke impacts over 101 million people and has been the cause of death for over 6.55 million people. This data was presented from the year 2019 alone. This disease is one of the leading causes of mortality.

The positive aspect of this study is that it brings to light the factors that my otherwise go unnoticed. Researchers point out that it is the duty of policymakers to pay attention to these factors in order to reduce the burden of stroke as well as comorbidities.