Worldwide 416 million people at risk of Alzheimer’s

Worldwide, the number of people at risk of developing dementia is vastly underestimated and today counts around 416 million cases. Furthermore, 22% of the world population over the age of 50 – especially women – could benefit from prevention strategies that include interventions and treatments capable of blocking or at least slowing the progression to Alzheimer’s disease. This is what emerges from an article on the spread of cases of people with Alzheimer’s around the world, published as part of the ‘Alzheimer’s value Europe’ (Pave) project. The only Italian in the group of authors is Paolo M. Rossini, director of the Department of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation of the Irccs San Raffaele in Rome. The data emerging from the study – underlines a note from San Raffaele – will be of particular importance for health systems in order to prepare adequate services and at the same time prepare for the provision of therapies currently being tested. The study also shows a panorama of possibilities related to prevention, including all measures and efforts aimed at promoting brain well-being in order to lengthen the period of total normality of cognitive functions for the patient and therefore his ability to live in a way independent. “It is clear that today we arrive too late to a diagnosis of dementia – Rossini says – and that methods for the early identification of the early stages (prodromal of the disease) have not yet been developed, which are precisely those that most provide and will lend themselves to preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative interventions. The implications of the study are very relevant and will have a significant impact on the healthcare organization, clinical research in Europe, the activities of drug regulatory authorities and, more importantly, on the patients and their families, representing a basis and a starting point for future strategies to combat q his terrible disease. “