United States: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dementia, which has become a global scale mental health crisis, is a condition caused by several diseases that slowly and gradually damage nerve cells and, hence, the brain.
This process results in the depreciation of cognitive functions in an individual, said the organization.
Dementia rises with growing population – Experts
The medical innovations, scientific progress, and technology development have resulted in an increasing life expectancy. Thus, the rising population is an occurrence of unparalleled magnitude on the global scale. Within this age group, there will be more than double the number of people suffering from dementia.
According to a recent WHO report, “As the global population of older adults continues to rise, the number of people living with dementia is also expected to grow, reaching approximately 139 million dementia cases by the year 2050,” as CNBC reported.
WHO stated that as of 2023, more than 55 million people are living with dementia globally. And, by 2050, the population of people aged above 65 is likely to double to 2.1 billion.
Risks linked with dementia
When almost 10 million new cases are reported every year, WHO stated, “Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death and one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people globally,” CNBC reported.
Moreover, according to research published in 2023 by the WHO, although currently, there is no cure for the disease available, various psychologists and researchers are working to prevent its onset.
Additionally, as the Lancet Commission’s 2020 report suggested, as age is yet the biggest known reason for dementia, researchers have documented another 12 “potentially modifiable risk factors.” Which are:
- Less education
- Hypertension
- Hearing impairment
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Depression
- Physical inactivity
- Diabetes
- Low social contact
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Traumatic brain injury
- Air pollution
The Lancet added, “Together the 12 modifiable risk factors account for around 40 percent of worldwide dementias, which consequently could theoretically be prevented or delayed,” CNBC reported.
A clinical psychologist and adjunct senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, Timothy Singham, said, “What we currently know is — what’s good for your heart is good for your brain, and that’s because there are a lot of vascular risk factors for dementia.”
How do we prevent the risks, as per experts?
As per the experts, there are five key “protective factors” which people must follow in order to prevent the onset of dementia:
- Regular physical activity
- Eating healthy
- Building a healthy support network
- Having good sleep hygiene
- Find ways to regulate stress and emotions
Singham added, “Your mental health suffers really quickly if you’re not — physically active, you don’t get to breathe, you don’t get to see nature much, you’re cooped up in the office or at home all day.”
Moreover, it added that it is vital to create a healthy support network, which is supposed to be in person, not just online.
According to CNBC reports, Ng Ai Ling, deputy director and principal counselor at Viriya Community Services, said, “I think a lot of young people are [leaning on their] online social networks — but we need to not give up the face-to-face [meetups] with friends.”
And, “The other thing I would encourage young people to do is have a very disciplined, good sleep hygiene because our brains really really need to rest,” Ng added.