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FRIDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDayNews) -- Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, but funding for stroke research -- at least in Europe -- lags far behind funding for other causes of death that take fewer lives.

So says a new study published in the Aug. 12 online issue of Stroke.

The lack of funding is likely to be a worldwide phenomenon, said study author Dr. Peter Rothwell, a professor of clinical neurology at the University of Oxford. He and his team researched the issue after previous studies in the United States and the United Kingdom found stroke research was under-funded compared to coronary heart disease and cancer research.

For this study, they collected information on stroke, heart disease and cancer research funding for the financial year 2000 to 2001 for nine different countries in Europe. They got the data from charities as well as government-funded organizations. They obtained it from annual reports, Web sites or by asking the organizations directly.

Stroke research funding made up a low percentage of the total funding for all three diseases taken together, the researchers found. And it often got one-tenth the research monies that cancer did.

When compared to cancer funding, stroke funding ranged from just 2 percent of total cancer funding in Norway and the Netherlands to 17 percent of total cancer funding in Switzerland.

Funding for stroke research also lagged far behind heart research funding in eight of the nine countries, ranging between 2 percent in Austria and 58 percent in Switzerland. Only Turkey allocated more funding for stroke research -- 38 percent more than for heart disease research.

What's behind the lack of funding? The authors speculated that public misperceptions of stroke might be partly to blame, which could result in lower contribution levels. Many people think stroke happens mostly to old people and often proves fatal, even though neither is true.

The European findings don't hold entirely true here in the United States, according to the American Stroke Association (ASA), a division of the American Heart Association, which donated $141.4 million to stroke research last year.

"I believe the status of stroke funding is better here," said Dr. Robert Adams, chairman of the association's advisory committee. "There is a significant commitment from the National Institutes of Health and the other groups such as the American Heart Association. But more is needed to bring the funding in line with the burden of the disease as the No. 3 killer and most common cause of disability in adults."

Adams suggested that keeping stroke "more on the radar screen of the leadership of the Congress can only help keep the funding for this important disease."

Stroke affects about 700,000 Americans each year. Every 45 seconds, a stroke occurs, and it is a leading cause of severe, long-term disability. According to ASA estimates, the direct and indirect cost of stroke in the United States will be $53.6 billion in 2004.

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that transports oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot or bursts. When the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, it starts to die.

More information

To learn more about stroke, visit the American Stroke Association.

(SOURCES: Robert Adams, M.D., chairman, American Stroke Association Advisory Committee, and physician, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta; Aug. 12, 2004, Stroke online )

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