- Global health officials are hailing Finnish study as a ‘wake-up call’
- The research showed exact same drop in smokers as stroke sufferers
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage is the most likely stroke to cause death
- There was a 30% drop in cases among 15-64-year-olds in 1998-2012
- Smoking declined at almost exactly the same rate in the same period
Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com
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The most fatal form of stroke is becoming increasingly rare as cigarettes fall out of fashion, new research shows.
A sharp drop in the number of people who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage occurred in the same period as a decline in smoking numbers.
The findings have been hailed as a ‘wake-up call’ to smokers and federal authorities to continue pushing limitations on cigarettes.
‘Wake-up call’: A sharp drop in the number of people who suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage occurred in the same period as a decline in smoking numbers, research reveals
Between 1998 and 2012, the number of people who smoked plunged 30 per cent among 15 to 64-year-olds in Finland, the Finnish study found.
During this time, cases of the killer stroke also went down by 45 per cent among women under 50 and 38 per cent among men under 50.
There was a 16 per cent drop of cases in women over 50 and 26 per cent among men over 50.
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Scientists said it was ‘highly likely’ Finnish tobacco policies played a role.
In recent years, Finland has slashed smoking numbers through a series of public health campaigns and legislative action against the sale of tobacco and its use in public.
Professor Jaakko Kaprio of the University of Helsinki said of the findings, which were published in the journal Neurology: ‘It is extraordinary for the incidence of any cardiovascular disease to decrease so rapidly at the population level in such a short time.
‘Even though we cannot demonstrate a direct causation in nation-wide studies, it is highly likely that the national tobacco policies in Finland have contributed to the decline in the incidence of this type of severe brain hemorrhage.’
Strokes are a leading cause of permanent disability in adults.
Signs of a stroke include the face drooping on one side, difficulty communicating with or understanding others, and trouble reading or writing.
Sufferers often experience difficulty moving one or more limbs, numbness, and paralysis in one or more parts of the body – particularly down just one side.
There are two types of stroke: ischemic and hemorrhagic.
An ischemic stroke occurs when there is a blockage in a blood vessel that prevents blood from reaching part of the brain.
Strokes are a leading cause of permanent disability in adults. The most fatal kind is a subarachnoid hemorrhage, when blood floods the brain. 30% of sufferers die instantly
A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel bursts, flooding part of the brain with too much blood while depriving other areas of adequate blood supply.
Thirty per cent of subarachnoid hemorrhage sufferers die before reaching hospital. A further 25 per cent die within 24 hours. And 40 per cent of survivors die within a week.
Age, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, family history, and history of a previous stroke or TIA are all risk factors for having a stroke.
Of the roughly three out of four people who survive a stroke, many will have life-long disabilities.
This includes difficulty walking, communicating, eating, and completing everyday tasks or chores.
Health charity Ash said the findings should motivate smokers across the world to quit.
Chief executive Deborah Arnott said: ‘The Finnish study is a wake-up call to smokers.
‘They need to know that if they don’t quit smoking they’re twice as likely to die from stroke than non-smokers.
‘But stopping smoking can be tough, which is why it is so important to ensure that all smokers are given the best possible support and encouragement to give up.’
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