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Stroke incidence was higher than in Western countries. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were considerably more frequent in our studied stroke patients than in other developing countries. Our findings need to be addressed in future health education programmes in Iran identifying patients at risk and focusing on more aggressive prevention programmes to lower stroke incidence.

The incidences of seizures and epilepsy in the population show a peak after 60 years of age. Due to the lack of reported clinical aspects of seizure and epilepsy in the older patients in our region in Iran, this study was conducted to describe the clinical manifestation, etiology, differential diagnosis, and epilepsy subtypes of epilepsy and seizure. A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed on all consecutively elderly seizure and epilepsy patients, referred to the Epilepsy Association in the city of Qom, Iran over a 10-year period. A total of 466 patients aged >60 years were admitted. 31 % of the patients had epilepsy or seizure and 69 % of them had non-epileptic events. The most prevalent differential diagnoses in the beginning were syncope and cardiovascular disorders. The most frequent clinical symptom of epilepsy was generalized tonic-clonic seizures (75 %). The most common cause of seizure was systemic metabolic disorder (27 %). In epileptic elderly patients, no cause was ascertained for 38 % and the most frequently observed pathological factors were cerebrovascular diseases, which accounted for 24 %. The most common type of epileptic seizure was generalized epileptic seizures (75 %). 10 % of elderly epileptic patients suffered from status epilepticus, which was primarily caused by anoxia. Despite the rising rate and potentially profound physical and psychosocial effects of seizures and epilepsy, these disorders have received surprisingly little research focus and attention in Iran. Referring older patients to a specialist or a specialist epilepsy center allows speedy assessment, appropriate investigation and treatment, and less likely to miss the diagnosis.

BackgroundA number of studies have explored the issue of sex differences in stroke from biomedical perspective; however, there are still large gaps in the existing knowledge. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the differences in socioeconomic status and living conditions between men and women may explain the part of the sex differences in incidence and outcomes of stroke.MethodsAll stroke participants aged ≥60 years admitted in Vaseie Hospital in Sabzevar, Iran, from March 21, 2013, until March 20, 2014, were included in this study. Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used to confirm stroke. A series of χ2 tests were performed and Statistical Program for Social Sciences, Version 21.0, was used to investigate the potential differences between older men and women in stroke incidence and outcomes.ResultsA total of 159 incident stroke cases were documented during 1 year. The annual rate of stroke was statistically significantly higher in elderly women than in elderly men (401 vs 357 per 100,000; P<0.001). Female elderly participants had significantly lower socioeconomic status, poorer living conditions, and higher lifetime history of depression, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus than their male counterparts.ConclusionThe findings from this study showed that elderly women are more adversely affected by stroke in terms of incidence and outcomes of stroke than elderly men. The most noticeable result is that sex differences in socioeconomic status and living conditions may result in increased incidence of stroke and poorer outcomes in elderly women. Therefore, it is imperative to identify vulnerable elderly women and provide them appropriate treatment and services.