Prevention and treatment of ischemic stroke and myocardialinfarction: not birds of a feather?

Both acute myocardial infarction (MI) and acute ischemic stroke are leading causes of death and disability in our world-the former in most American and European countries and the latter in many of Asian countries,1 Although these common acute vascular disorders share some similarities,there are important differences regarding pathophysiology,diagnostic evaluation,and management.The differences between acute MI and acute ischemic stroke are manifold,and imply different prevention and treatment strategies.Given that the paradoxical differences in incidence density of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke between different populations has long been known,and the great burden placed by these disorders on human being,one may wonder at the paucity of literature to compare them.In this issue of the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology,we publish two articles2,3 addressing the similarity and differences of CHD and stroke to highlight this important question in medicine.