If anything should shake the medical community into addressing the problem, the new data revealing that dementia rates will triple by 2050 should suffice.
A summit held by the federation of Alzheimers associations is trying to address the coming menace that is a world in which dementia numbers are climbing at a furious pace, and a treatment or understanding of the disease is still not at hand.
In just 3 years, there has been a 17% increase in the rate of dementia. That alone has sent alarms ringing throughout the world medical community.
Right now, the total estimate of sufferers is about 44 million. That could easily reach, at this rate, 76 million by 2030 and 135 million by 2050.
Although most of the cases are now registered in first world countries, the medical community believes that this burden will eventually shift to poor countries in the next decades. The countries believed to be most affected in the future are East Asia and Sub Saharan AFrica. In fact, most believe now that the majority of the new cases, which will bolster existing rates, will be in those poorer countries.
The summit, which is in the context of the G8 is concerned about prevention of dementia. That emphasis should include diet, smoking, and exercise guidelines.
The other problem is social networks for the care of dementia patients. So far only 13 countries in the WHO roster have national dementia plans.
Source : MNT/ 12.6.13
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