Background The overall global burden of stroke is considerable and increasing. In China, stroke is the leading cause of death and disability. Methods For this study, we used data from the National Stroke Screening Survey in 2012 and the 2010 Chinese population from sixth National Census of Populations to calculate a standardized (by age, gender, and education) stroke prevalence. Prevalence, risk factors, and management of stroke were compared by gender, age, and site. Findings The standardized prevalence rate of survival stroke patients in study population aged 60 and older was 4.94% in total. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for stroke. Compared to men, women were more likely to have diabetes, obesity, elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and atrial fibrillation ( P < 0.05). Men were far more likely to drink and smoke than women ( P < 0.05). The rates of diabetes and atrial fibrillation were substantially higher in urban than those in rural stroke survivors ( P < 0.05). Rural stroke survivors exhibited higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption than urban stroke survivors ( P < 0.05). Interpretation The stroke prevalence in China is in line with median worldwide stroke prevalence. Traditional risk factors remain highly prevalent in stroke survivors, among which hypertension was the most common. Stroke prevalence rates and risk factors varied by age, sex, and sociogeological factors. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00415-019-09281-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We aimed to investigate the prevalence of stroke and related vascular risk factors in adult population aged 40 years and older in China. We conducted a prospective cross-sectional survey in nationally representative sample of 207323 individuals from all 31 Chinese provinces in 2013. Data were used to analyze the prevalence of stroke by age, sex, geographical regions and educational level. The age-standardized prevalence of stroke was significantly higher in men than in women in all age groups (P < 0.001). The age-standardized prevalence of stroke was significantly higher in rural than in urban residents among both men and women (P < 0.001). The prevalence of stroke was inversely associated with educational level. There were striking geographical variations in stroke prevalence in China with a higher prevalence of stroke in northern provinces as compared with southern provinces of the country. The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, atrial fibrillation and obesity in the Chinese population aged 40 years and older were 35.24%, 9.55%, 58.72%, 1.57% and 4.09%, respectively. Stroke and related vascular risk factors remains a major public threat in China and effective primary preventive strategies that aimed at reducing the burden of stroke and its risk factors are urgently needed.

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White matter (WM) disease is recognized as an important cause of cognitive decline and dementia. White matter lesions (WMLs) appear as white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain. Previous studies have shown that type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is associated with WMH. In this review, we reviewed the literature on the relationship between T2DM and WMH in PubMed and Cochrane over the past five years and explored the possible links among the presence of T2DM, the course or complications of diabetes, and WMH. We found that: (1) Both from a macro- and micro-scopic point of view, most studies support the relationship of a larger WMH and a decrease in the integrity of WMH in T2DM; (2) From the relationship between brain structural changes and cognition in T2DM, the poor performance in memory, attention, and executive function tests associated with abnormal brain structure is consistent; (3) Diabetic microangiopathy or peripheral neuropathy may be associated with WMH, suggesting that the brain may be a target organ for T2DM microangiopathy; (4) Laboratory markers such as insulin resistance and fasting insulin levels were significantly associated with WMH. High HbA1c and high glucose variability were associated with WMH but not glycemic control.

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