Brain stroke (Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS)) is the fourth leading cause of death, as well as the fifth leading cause of disability in India. Lack of disease awareness is one of the primary reasons behind the increasing incidence of the disease. Against this backdrop, a better awareness about the warning signs and risk factors at all levels of care will not only help save lives but also reduces disease burden, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to ‘GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center’, the incidence of stroke in India ranges between 104 and 105/100,000 people per year, with an expected increase in diagnosed incident cases from 6.2 million in 2022 to 6.7 million in 2027, at an annual growth rate (AGR) of 1.7%.

Against this backdrop, Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) has recently conducted the first-ever consumer survey on brain stroke – “The State of Stroke: A Survey on Awareness About Stroke In Urban India” on the occasion of World Brain Day.

The rationale behind this survey was to bring forth the prime factor responsible for the magnitude of the disease burden, i.e., lack of awareness around brain stroke in the country. The survey findings, based on 4,742 respondents across 12 cities in India, revealed that only 22% of them were aware of brain stroke and its risk factors, with awareness level dropping to a meager 10% with respect to stroke-related treatment options. Actilyse and Pradaxa are the two BI drugs used for stroke treatment and management in India.

Atulana Dey, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Along with an aging population, susceptibility to cardio-metabolic dysfunction due to a more vulnerable race and ethnicity, and other risk factors like hypertension and type 2 diabetes, which are working in cohort to increase the stroke prevalence and incidence, limited awareness among the population surrounding this disease are adding on to the burden.”

The current treatment options for stroke in India vary with the severity of the situation. Intravenous administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) within 4.5 hours of the stroke episode is the gold standard of first-line treatment.

GlobalData’s ‘Digital Marketing Intelligence’ identified digital assets only from Boehringer Ingelheim – one unbranded website (Strokeofsupport.com) and one unbranded iOS/android mobile application (Angels Stopwatch), targeting Indian patients and caregivers.

Owing to increased stress, anxiety and unhealthy food lifestyle that has developed rapidly over the last decade, age group of 18–50 is equally prone to this debilitating condition as is the aging population.

Dey concludes: “The escalating stroke incidence calls for the government and key companies to join forces and act on the unmet need of creating an enhanced understanding of stroke symptoms, risk factors, treatment options and preventative measures. Improved knowledge of the disease will not only help patients and families identify the condition, but a prompt response within a few hours of identification can also help save lives by limiting the overall long-term physical and neurological damage.”