Cerebrovascular disease in rural Kashmir, India

We studied the Kuthar Valley in the Anantnag District of south Kashmir (northwestern India) during the year 1986 to ascertain the prevalence and pattern of completed stroke. We detected 91 cases, giving a crude prevalence rate of 143/100,000. However, age-specific prevalence was 41/100,000 in the group aged 15-39 years and 630/100,000 in the group aged greater than or equal to 40 years; 69.23% of the cases were in men. Hypertension was present in 58.24% of the cases, while strokes due to valvular heart disease and puerperium-related strokes were most common in the young. Our study is first of its kind in this part of India.