Contrary to recent studies that have claimed that number of dementia cases in the world are increasing, a new Policy View published in The Lancet Neurology journal claims that the number of people with dementia is stabilising in some Western European Countries.
The Policy View, which is based on data from five large epidemiological studies done in Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain, states that there has been no changes in overall dementia occurrence over the past 20 to 30 years in four of the five studies.
Experts noted a decline of about 22 per cent in overall prevalence of dementia in the UK in people aged 65 years in 2011 as compared to the predicted estimates in 1990, resulting in stabilisation of estimated numbers of people with dementia.
Further, experts revealed that results from the study conducted in Zaragoza (Spain) indicated a decline in dementia prevalence in men aged 65 and older (about 43 per cent) between 1987 and 1996. The studies conducted in Stockholm (Sweden) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands) showed that the age-specific incidence of dementia is falling in these regions.
The findings of the study suggest that prevalence (ie, the percentage of the population with dementia) and incidence (the number of new dementia cases over a given time) of dementia in specific age groups are falling across time and generations.
Carol Brayne, lead author and Professor of Public Health Medicine at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health (CIPH), University of Cambridge in the UK, said that the stabilisation of the number of dementia cases can be attributed to improvements in protective factors for dementia and a general reduction in risk factors.
Brayne added that improvement in prevention and treatment of key cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol – risks that could lead to development of dementia – also helps explain a decline in dementia cases.
Experts involved in the study acknowledge that it is a positive sign that dementia is stabilising, but dementia care will remain a crucial point owing to the fact that population ageing will continue with the number of people over age 85 being the fastest growing age demographic out of which 40 per cent currently estimated to be affected by dementia.
Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Society, echoed the concerns put forward in the Policy View saying that though the numbers presented in the study are welcome, the overall number of people with dementia is still set to increase as more people live into their 80s and 90s.
“With no cure, few effective treatments and an economic impact exceeding that of cancer or heart disease, dementia remains the most critical health and social care challenge facing the UK”, Hughes added.
