The number of cases has more than doubled worldwide in twenty-six years. People with cognitive disorders have indeed increased from 20.2 million in 1990 to 43.8 million in 2016. This is the alarming finding of an article published in The Lancet Neurology in November 2018, led by the universities of Melbourne (Australia) and Washington (USA). But the picture is not all black. In 2016, 22.3% of the years in full health lost due to these diseases were due to modifiable risk factors, according to the researchers.
The study confirms that dementias, such as Alzheimer’s disease, are more common in the elderly. From the age of 50, their prevalence even doubles every five years. But above all, they discovered that more than 20% of “overall years of life lost due to dementia” can be attributed to four risk factors, on which it is possible to intervene: overweight, hyperglycaemia, consumption of sugary drinks and smoking.
Prevent or delay dementia
“The importance of these risks in enabling us to prevent or delay dementia is clear”says Professor Cassandra Szoeke, lead author from the University of Melbourne on the latter’s website. According to the researchers, the first signs of the pathology would appear at least 20 to 30 years before its diagnosis. The professor therefore emphasizes the importance of conducting long-term longitudinal studies in order to determine when an intervention is necessary in order to be able to prevent the disease. The study already shows for the moment that maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy and monitoring your blood pressure partially limit the risks.
By 2050, the number of people with dementia could reach 100 million people, however, warn the researchers. “Chronic diseases are becoming the leading causes of death and disability around the world and while we continue to work on new treatments every day to fight the disease, we really need to focus more on the choices in terms of health which, to our knowledge, are self-evident”says Cassandra Szoeke.
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