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The dementia devastate the minds of 153 million people around the world in 2050, about three times more than in 2019, according to a study It shows the increasing stakes for public health policies alongside successful therapies from drug manufacturers.
The tripling of cases of cognitive diseases including memory-robbing Alzheimer’s disease is linked to national trends in risk factors including obesity, diabetes, low education and smoking, according to the Global Burden of Disease study published Thursday in the Lancet Public Health journal. The analysis considered 195 countries and territories of the world.
Drug makers are trying to engineer therapies to tackle the Alzheimer’s threat, like Biogen’s Aduhelm, which has seen minimal acceptance since its approval in June.
“Even modest advances in preventing dementia or slowing its progression would pay remarkable dividends,” said study lead author Emma Nichols of the University of Washington Institute for Health Assessment and Metrics in Seattle. “To have the greatest impact, we need to reduce exposure to the main risk factors in each country.”
Sought after by many companies, Alzheimer’s disease drugs have so far shown limited efficacy in counteracting the dementia. Biogen’s Aduhelm was approved on the basis of its ability to remove a disease-linked protein from the brain; its impact on thought is not yet clear.
Meanwhile, other companies such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Roche Holding are working on similar therapies. Biogen also has another protein-lightening drug in development.
The researchers found that better access to education could reduce the increase in patients with dementia in 6.2 million for 2050. However, that would be more than offset by an estimated 7 million additional cases linked to trends in obesity, high blood sugar and smoking.
‘Apocalyptic projections’
North Africa, the Middle East and eastern sub-Saharan Africa are expected to experience the largest increase in dementia, an estimated four-fold increase. In contrast, the study found lower increases in wealthier countries in the Asia-Pacific and Western Europe region.
Women living with dementia will continue to outnumber their male counterparts in 2050, the study found, due to a combination of genetic risk factors and a longer life expectancy, as the risk of dementia increases with age.
Still, the trajectory predicted by the study could change if the appropriate measures are taken, according to an accompanying comment in the same journal.
The study offers “apocalyptic projections that do not take into account desirable changes in lifestyle throughout life,” said in the comment Bordeaux University Hospital doctors Michael Schwarzinger and Carole Dufouil, who were not involved in the analysis. . “There is a considerable and urgent need to strengthen a public health approach to dementia to better inform people and decision-makers about the appropriate means to delay or avoid these dire projections ”.
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