Archive for the ‘Alzheimer’ Category
The number of Alzheimer’s patients will double in twenty years
The number of patients with Alzheimer‘s and related dementias is expected to double in 20 years, from 35.6 million today to 65.7 million in 2030, according to a report published Tuesday on the occasion of World Day of fight against disease.
The association Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), which brings together 73 associations worldwide, said in the report that the number of patients expected to triple by 2050 (115.4 million).
Alzheimer and other dementias will represent a growing cost to society than 1% of global GDP in 2010, $ 604 billion and the equivalent of the 18th world economy, the report adds.
Experts from King’s College London and the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) who compiled the latest data for this report call for an international effort to the extent of the disease.
Should be multiplied by 15 financial research effort to reach a funding comparable to that for cardiovascular disease – and by 30 to reach parity with the effort for cancer.
About 0.5% of world population is now affected by some form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s is the most common. The disease, which affects memory and behavior, is incurable and highly debilitating. It is strongly linked to aging, since the risk of developing the disease doubles every 5 years from 65 and reached 50% at the age of 85.
According to the association, governments must make Alzheimer’s a priority in their health policies. Some countries have already implemented plans “Alzheimer’s,” the report said, citing France, Australia and England.
Globally, Alzheimer’s should be a priority for the World Health Organization (WHO) and be on the agenda of the G8 and G20.
For Dr. Daisy Acosta, president of ADI, “Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are the most important medical and social crisis of the 21st century and governments are” woefully prepared to face social and economic disruption that it causes .
Alzheimer’s affects 860,000 people in France, where a plan launched in February 2008 will allocate a budget of 1.6 billion euros by 2012. President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last Friday the generalization of 2011 houses for the reception of patients, involving all the professionals of the disease.
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Caffeine, To Prevent Alzheimer
While this study was performed in rabbits, but the results were encouraging: after two weeks, those animals that also carry cholesterol-rich diets had been injected with a jolt similar to that ingested by humans, showed that barrier virtually intact, which reaffirms that “Caffeine appears to block the effects of cholesterol that cause leaks in the barrier,” said Jonathan Geiger, scientific study participant.
“High levels of cholesterol are a risk factor for Alzheimer, perhaps because they compromise the protection afforded by the ‘blood-brain barrier’. For the first time we have shown that regular consumption of caffeine protects the cholesterol-induced leakage, “said the specialist.
Thus, these results suggest that caffeine protects individuals from Alzheimer and that “medicine is a safe and freely available. Its ability to stabilize the barrier means it could be an important part of therapies against neurological disorders.