Neurological conditions are now the leading cause of ill-health worldwide, causing 11.1 million deaths in 2021, research has revealed.
According to a study published in The Lancet, the number of people living with or dying from disorders of the nervous system has risen dramatically over the past three decades, with 43% of the world’s population – 3.4 billion people – affected in 2021.
In the UK, figures from Brain Research UK show one in six people have some form of neurological condition, with 2.6 million people living with the effects of traumatic brain injury or stroke. There are more than 100,000 strokes each year and 1.3 million stroke survivors.
There are also more than 944,000 people in the UK who have dementia, with the numbers expected to increase to more than a million by 2030.