Open Access

Thomas Platz, Giorgio Sandrini

• One of the great challenges the world faces in terms of health care is the increasing number of people living with neuro-disabilities that affect their ability to participate in societal activities. Various neurological conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s disease, to name just a few, change cognitive, sensory, or motor capacities, alter the emotional well-being of those affected, and lead to disability in their everyday lives. Over the last few decades, aging populations and reduced mortality in many regions of the world have increased the number of people living with neuro-disabilities considerably, an effect that is still ongoing (1): for 2017, the worldwide prevalence of stroke (thousands) has been estimated to be as high as 104178.7 (95% confidence interval, 95% CI 98454.0–110125.0), and years lived with disabilities (YLD) (counts in thousands) caused by stroke were reported to amount to 18695.4 (95% CI 13,574–23686.9). The stroke-related increase in YLD (percentage change in counts) was 40% (95% CI 38.4–41.4) from 1990 to 2007 and another 43.6% (39.6–47.8) during only 10 years from 2007 to 2017. The numbers are similarly impressive for other neurological disorders (i.e., dementias, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, headache disorders, and others). Taken together, their worldwide prevalence (in thousands) in 2017 was 3121435.3 (95% CI 2951124.5–3316268.0), while YLD (thousands) in 2017 were 3121435.3 (95% CI 2951124.5–3316268.0), with an increase in YLD by 35.1% (95% CI 31.9–38.1) from 1990 to 2007 and by a further 17.8% (95% CI 15.8–20.2) from 2007 to 2017. These numbers not only demonstrate the huge global burden of disease and prevailing neuro-disabilities, but they indicate a considerable increase in the number of people living with neuro-disabilities with an accelerating dynamic over time (for stroke).