2024-10-14 02:04:00
Everything is fine three seconds someone, somewhere in the world, develops some dementia. Yes for the year 2030 specialists appreciate it There will be at least 82 million people diagnosed with dementiaaccording to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs due to certain diseases and affects one or more brain functions such as memory, thinking, language, judgment or behavior. It is a serious neurocognitive disorder and Sometimes Alzheimer’s It is the most common type of dementia, although not the only one. Most dementias are degenerative and irreversible, as well as progressing in most cases without really noticeable symptoms for years.
While scientific research focuses largely on two factors: l early detection and the treatments when there is a diagnosisother studios are looking for how to work prevent dementia in the population at riskas the latter action would greatly help in reducing the subsequent costs of care and treatment of this disease.
With a global cost that currently exceeds one billion dollars but which according to the WHO could reach almost three trillion dollars by 2030, The incidence of dementia is higher in low- and middle-income countrieswhere socio-health determinants play a fundamental role in its prevalence.
In Latin Americaa recent study published in International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, found that care-dependent older adults are more likely to experience loneliness and social isolation, factors that exacerbate dementia. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend public policies to ensure healthy aging.
look to the future
“With increasing life expectancy and rapid aging, There is an increasing number of older people who have functional disabilitiesgreater needs for care and support and who are at greater risk of insufficient social interaction – summary Qian Gao and colleagues, authors of the study. Longitudinal research on the interaction between loneliness, social isolation, and care dependency remains limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the longitudinal reciprocal association between social isolation/loneliness and care dependency among older adults in Latin America and China”. And they conclude: elderly people who depend on care are at risk of develop loneliness and social isolation. “It is essential to create complex care models that use a social approach to address social and care needs comprehensively, especially for the group of older people with declining functional abilities.”
Another study in Latin America, published in Alzheimer’s and dementiaobserved that the social and environmental factors they are even more relevant than genetics to predict the prevalence of dementia. This means that educational attainment, access to health care, and experiences of racial segregation may explain disparities in dementia incidence among racial and ethnic minorities.
“These findings highlight that social and environmental factors, as opposed to genetic ancestry, likely play a more critical role in determining racial disparities in cognitive performance and the subsequent prevalence of dementia,” they conclude. Jorge Guerra Bookfrom the Department of Neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and colleagues. He explains that interventions such as improving education and facilitating healthcare to reduce disparities could not only reduce the incidence of dementia, but also non-communicable diseases.
“This approach also relieves economic pressures on families and social services, making it a cost-effective strategy to mitigate the impacts of dementia, particularly in diverse populations such as those in Latin America,” says Llibre Guerra.
Without a cure and with the progressive aging of the world population, the trend is to increase spending on dementia care. A review published on Alzheimer’s disease prevention journalconcluded that early prevention of dementia, targeting at-risk groups, is relatively inexpensive and can reduce subsequent costs related to the care and treatment of people with dementia.
“From to economic perspectiveDementia represents a major challenge for economies around the world due to the rising costs. Since there is no cure in sight, prevention appears to be the most promising approach to reducing dementia healthcare costs. On the contrary, approximately 40% of dementias are attributed to modifiable risk factors and early studies have shown that multidomain interventions can be effective in preventing dementia. Considering the growing economic burden, cost-effectiveness plays an important role for many healthcare administrations around the world,” they warn in their article. Alessandro Braun and colleagues, from Austria.
The researchers wanted to know whether prevention for people at risk of dementia could be cost-effective, i.e. whether the financial expenditure on a certain action generated a positive impact. To do this, they compared data from seven studies, out of a total of more than 3,600 studies on the topic.
Braun, from the Institute of Health Management at IMC Krems in Austria, and an author of the work, said the review shows that dementia prevention programs represent savings. On average each intervention cost 472 euros per person. Therefore, he says, the cost can be seen as an investment in health.
Systems collapsed
“There are fragile health systems in low- and middle-income countries that have collapsed during the pandemic. If nothing is done in terms of prevention, healthcare systems are expected to be severely affected in the coming years due to the high incidence of dementia,” he warns. Nathan Feterfrom the Degree Course in Epidemiology of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil.
A systematic review carried out in 2022 found that the prevalence rate of dementia is higher in Latin American and Caribbean countries, compared to Europe and the United States.
According to Feter, studies show that the prevalence of key risk factors for dementia is higher in low-income populations, because they have limited access to preventative measures and medical care. “Low income and low education are known risk factors for dementia,” he points out. Furthermore, the lack of access to preventive health care, such as control of cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive and physical activities, contributes to the increase in the incidence of dementia.”
However, according to the Austrian study, the potential benefit of prevention measures will be greater if applied early and targeted at risk groups, rather than people already showing symptoms. Furthermore, there are indications that prevention based on the lifestyle of middle-aged people may be a good strategy.
Another alternative is to adopt multidomain strategies: these are interventions that address a disease, such as diabetes, and also have direct effects on reducing risk factors for dementia.
According to the WHO, rising rates of obesity, poor diet and lack of physical activity have contributed to more than tripling the number of adults with diabetes in the Americas over the past 30 years. “Appropriately treating diabetes with personalized prevention programs would have a huge effect on the incidence of dementia,” emphasizes Braun.
Notably, diabetes is among 12 potentially modifiable dementia risk factors developed by The Lancet Commission in 2020, which are responsible for 40% of dementia cases worldwide and which could be prevented or delayed.
For Feter, progress has been made in raising awareness of this disorder, but there is still much to be done. “We could avoid half of the cases with preventive measures, although the number of cases would continue to increase, largely due to aging and population growth.”
SciDev and Andrea Gentil
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