Lower changing incidences of disease over time do not necessarily mean that the number of patients in care also goes down, as the prevalence of the disease is a function of incidence and mortality. “Death Cures”. Combine this notion with the fact that both the incidence and mortality rates of the different stroke subtypes change different over time, and you will see that the group of patients that suffer from stroke will be quite different from the current one.

I made this picture to accompany a small text on declining stroke incidences which I have written for the newsletter of the Kompetenznetz Schlaganfall. which can be found in this pdf.