The prevalence of brain aneurysms in India is unknown. Extrapolating the estimates in Western countries to India, about 2,00,000 patients suffer from brain aneurysm rupture every year in India. A brain aneurysm rupture is fatal in about 40% of the cases and leads to significant disability in a considerable proportion of survivors. Considering that 62% of India's population is under 60 years of age and that most aneurysm ruptures occur between 35 and 60 years of age, a large proportion of patients lose their productive life due to brain aneurysm rupture.
Smoking is one of the only two modifiable predisposing conditions to brain aneurysm formation and rupture, the other being uncontrolled high blood pressure. According to the data from Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), in 2009-10, about one third of Indians (aged 15 and above) were smokers (48% males and 20% females). As such, every…
