Stroke risk impacted by genetic factors, regional disparities in comorbidities, says study

The research, published in the prestigious biomedical publication eLife, suggests that metabolic risk in America and Europe, and vascular risk in Asian and African regions, are the major drivers for stroke risk (Image: Canva)

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death across the world. A new study, conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in Thiruvananthapuram, now suggests that genetic factors of different ethnic groups and regional disparities in comorbidities also play a critical role in influencing the burden of the disease.

"The underlying genetic factors are very critical in determining and defining the regional variations in influencing stroke and its comorbidities, which, in turn, can define the burden of stroke," says the study conducted by Moinak Banerjee, from the Neurobiology Division of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (BRIC-RGCB).

The research, published in the prestigious biomedical publication eLife, suggests that metabolic risk in America and Europe, and vascular risk in Asian and African regions, are the major drivers for stroke risk, in a proof that stroke and its comorbid factors show strong regional disparities and ethnic and region-specific genetic factors. Comorbidities in stroke can amplify the risk of stroke and its outcome, according to an RGCB release, quoting the study.

The findings of the study, one of the largest ever performed globally covering 204 countries, were based on the data collected from 2009-19 for stroke and its major comorbid risk. A total of eleven diseases were studied, and these included overall stroke, its subtypes ischemic stroke (IS), intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), along with its comorbid factors like ischemic heart disease( IHD), diabetes type 1 & type 2, chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, high body mass index(BMI), and high LDL cholesterol.

Stroke affected over 101 million people worldwide and caused over 6.55 million deaths in 2019, making it one of the leading causes of mortality. RGCB Director Prof Chandrabhas Narayana said it is an important study that can significantly contribute to the prevention and management of the stroke, as it views the disease from population point of view. The study points out that the majority of public health researchers interpret the burden of stroke from socio-economic perspective, while biomedical researchers investigate stroke in isolation. "We demonstrate that the stroke and its comorbid factors show strong regional disparities. Comorbidities in stroke can amplify the risk of stroke and its outcome. Thus, prevention of stroke needs to mainly focus on the management of its comorbid factors and reduce the burden of these factors," it points out, signifying population-specific risk.

The study stressed the need for understanding the epidemiological observation of major conditions or their comorbid conditions from a genetic viewpoint, which can help health policymakers understand the areas of concern.