Stroke: a review with an African perspective

The frequency of stroke and stroke-associated mortality are higher in Blacks than in other races. Several of the known risk factors for stroke, such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity, are more common in Blacks than Whites, and sickle-cell disease and HIV infection are stroke risk factors with particular relevance to Africans. Although the facilities for accurate stroke diagnosis and classification are unavailable in most parts of Africa, careful analysis of the clinical features can minimize the rates of misdiagnosis and misclassification. The high levels of stroke-attributable morbidity and mortality observed in Africans could be markedly reduced by instituting primary and secondary preventive measures and by educating health-care professionals on stroke-management strategies.