About Stroke
A stroke is a sudden reduction of blood flow to a part of the brain caused by:
- a blood clot blocking an artery cutting off or reducing blood flow
- a burst blood vessel in the brain (haemorrhage) causing a build up of pressure in the brain causing damage to nerve cells
This loss of blood flow causes part of the brain area to stop working and the damage of brain cells, resulting in loss of body function of the associated areas.
The effects can be devastating and can last a lifetime.
Incidence Rate and Market Size
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States.
- Each year in the United States over 143,579 people die from stroke
- Annually about 795,000 strokes occur in the United States
- About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes
- About 185,000 occur in people who have already had a stroke before
- Stroke is also a leading cause of serious long-term disability
The worldwide market potential for stroke treatment is estimated to be $3.5 billion.
Treatments Available
Once a stroke has occurred, there are only acute stroke therapies available to assist patients that try to stop or lessen the severity of a stroke while it is happening- These treatments try to dissolve the blood clot causing an ischemic stroke or to stop the bleeding of a hemorrhagic stroke
- Currently there are no drugs on the market that can regenerate neural circuits / neurons destroyed by the stroke incidence in patients
- This is where NRPs have potential to assist stroke patients having regenerative as well as cell-protective activities