Stroke
Every three seconds someone in the world experiences a stroke,1,2 while over the last 20 years, the lifetime risk of stroke has increased by 50 percent.3 Each year, approximately 12 million people worldwide experience a stroke, of which 20-30% will be a recurrent stroke.4,5
Stroke presents an overwhelming financial burden for both healthcare systems and patients.6
What is a stroke?
Stroke is a medical emergency that needs immediate treatment to prevent brain cell death. Strokes can be classified into two major categories: hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke.7
- Hemorrhagic strokes: these are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel which leads to bleeding inside the brain.
- Ischemic strokes: constituting 87 percent of all strokes, these are caused by an interruption of blood supply to the brain due to a blockage e.g. a blood clot. When the blood cannot reach the brain, brain cells die due to lack of oxygen.
1 in 4 adults are predicted to experience a stroke in their lifetime.3
What are the signs and symptoms of stroke?
Stroke may result in severely restricted movement, paralysis, loss of speech or vision, which may be permanent, or even death.8
What is the long-term outlook for stroke survivors?
Discover the journeys of stroke survivors.
An estimated 93.8 million people worldwide are living with the consequences of stroke.1
Reducing the likelihood of secondary stroke currently involves minimizing risk factors, coupled with antiplatelet therapy to reduce the risk of clots forming.
Even with currently available therapies, approximately one in five ischemic stroke survivors will have another stroke within five years, which is often more disabling, more likely to be fatal, and more costly than the first stroke.5,9,10,11
The risk of secondary stroke remains unacceptably high.
to pose an unacceptably heavy burden on patients, their
loved ones, and healthcare systems. It’s not enough to
manage stroke, we need to reimagine how we prevent
it. We must innovate and intervene earlier to prevent
recurrent stroke and find new therapies that provide
the right balance between effective prevention while
maintaining patient safety.”
The annual financial impact of stroke is now $891 billion and is expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2030.5,6
How are stroke survivors and their caregivers supported?
After a stroke, stroke survivors and their care partners often need ongoing, compassionate support. Primary care and rehabilitation services help manage health needs, support recovery, and connect families with community resources.12 Caregivers can also access counselling and respite services to protect their own wellbeing while caring for their loved one.13
Understand the care partner perspective: Click here
Life after a stroke
Hear directly from people that have been affected by stroke: their journeys, challenges, resilience and hope.
Our commitment in the field of stroke
Stroke has wide-reaching effects on patients, families, and communities and we at Bayer are dedicated to addressing these challenges through improved patient care, education, and prevention.
We are committed to advance stroke care from diagnosis to acute treatment, to prevention and driving research to alleviate the widespread, debilitating impact of stroke and improve patient outcomes.
Building on our long heritage and expertise in thrombosis management, we are striving to address unmet medical needs, seeking to provide alternative approaches that may offer improved benefit-risk profiles.
1 Feigin VL, et al. Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet Neurology. 2024 Oct;23(10):973-1003.
2 Feigin VL, et al. Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet Neurology. 2021 Oct;20(10):795-820.
3 World Health Organization. Stroke. 2025. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/stroke. [Accessed: March 2026]
4 World Stroke Organization. World Stroke Organization (WSO): Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2022. 2022. Available at: https://www.world-stroke.org/assets/downloads/WSO_Global_Stroke_Fact_Sheet.pdf. [Accessed: March 2026]
5 Feigin VL, et al. Pragmatic solutions to reduce the global burden of stroke: a World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission. The Lancet Neurology. 2023 Dec;22(12):1160-1206.
6 World Stroke Organization. Impact of Stroke. 2026. Available at: https://www.world-stroke.org/world-stroke-day-campaign/about-stroke/impact-of-stroke. [Accessed March 2026]
7 Johns Hopkins Medicine. Types of Stroke. 2025. Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/stroke/types-of-stroke. [Accessed: March 2026]
8 Johns Hopkins Medicine. Effects of Stroke. 2025. Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/stroke/effects-of-stroke. [Accessed: March 2026]
9 Kolmos M, et al. Recurrent Ischemic Stroke - A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2021 Aug;30(8):105935.
10 Rochmah TN, et al. Economic Burden of Stroke Disease: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021 Jul 15;18(14):7552.
11 Skajaa N, et al. Risks of Stroke Recurrence and Mortality After First and Recurrent Strokes in Denmark: A Nationwide Registry Study. Neurology. 2022 Jan 24;98(4):e329-e342.
12 Pindus DM, et al. Stroke survivors' and informal caregivers' experiences of primary care and community healthcare services–a systematic review and meta-ethnography. PLoS One. 2018 Feb 21;13(2):e0192533.
13 Garnett A, et al. Factors impacting the access and use of formal health and social services by caregivers of stroke survivors: an interpretive description study. BMC Health Services Research. 2022 Apr 1;22(1):433.
