2-fold increase in the number of dementia by 2050

The number of people diagnosed with dementia worldwide each year is expected to more than double by 2050, according to new research.

According to Ambassador Arjan, quoted by USA Today, researchers reported that in 2023, about 11.4 million people will be diagnosed with dementia, and this number is expected to reach 24.7 million new cases per year by 2050. Meanwhile, women and residents of low-income countries face higher infection rates.

These findings underscore the growing need for dementia prevention, diagnosis, and care as the world's population ages.

Dr. Lee Ron Sinwani, director of research and innovation at the Northwell Institute for Healthy Aging in New York, said: "This is not a question of the distant future; Rather, it is an accelerating pandemic crisis that requires immediate attention."

Led by the Center for Healthy Brain Aging at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, researchers analyzed data from 38,418 people across 22 studies in 18 countries and regions on six continents.

The researchers followed the participants over time and found that 3,001 of them developed dementia. They used these data to estimate the incidence of new cases in different populations.

Dementia cases are expected to increase, mainly due to the aging of the world's population.

Currently, more than 57 million people worldwide have dementia. Previous studies have predicted that this number may reach 150 million people by 2050.

This study showed that the incidence rate of new cases of dementia is higher in women than in men; Even after taking the age factor into account. So that the infection rate in women was 10.6 cases per 1000 people, while this figure for men is 8.6 cases per 1000 people. This study did not determine the reason for this difference. According to the researchers, possible contributing factors to the higher frequency of Alzheimer's disease among women are hormonal changes associated with menopause and metabolic factors affecting heart health.

The study also found that new cases of dementia were significantly more common in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.

The rate of new dementia cases in low- and middle-income countries was 13.6 per 1,000 people, compared to 8.3 per 1,000 people in high-income countries.

"Preventive efforts can help reduce the future burden of dementia," Sinwani said.

He said 14 known, modifiable risk factors account for nearly half of dementia cases. These factors include physical inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and social isolation.