Health News Reuters.com
Thu Dec 15, 2005. LONDON (Reuters) - The number of people suffering from dementia is expected to double every 20 years and could reach more than 81 million worldwide by 2040, health experts predicted on Friday.
A team of scientists from Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) estimate 24.3 million people currently suffer from dementia. Cases are rising by 4.6 million a year or one every 7 seconds.
Without prevention, the number will hit 42 million in 20 years and nearly double again by 2040 with the bulk of the increase in India, China, south Asia and the western Pacific.
"The rate of increase in numbers of people with dementia is predicted to be three to four times higher in developing areas than in developed regions," Cleusa Ferri and her colleagues said in a report.
The figures could have important implications for policy makers and health care providers. Residential care for 224,000 dementia sufferers in Britain for example is estimated to cost about 4.6 billion pounds ($8.2 billion), or 0.6 percent of the UK gross domestic product, according to the study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Alzheimer's is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. There is no cure for dementia which is characterized by the loss of two or more brain functions such as memory and language skill. But drugs may slow the progression or reduce symptoms.
People with advanced dementia often need round-the-clock care.
The scientists from ADI, an umbrella organization of Alzheimer associations around the world, reviewed published studies on dementia and used UN population studies and projections to estimate the number of people who will suffer from dementia in coming decades.
"We believe that the detailed estimates contained in this paper are the best currently available basis for policy-making, planning and allocation of health welfare resources," Ferri said in the report.
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