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Dementia will affect three times as many people in the future
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Researchers from an international institute studying neurodegenerative diseases have said that as life expectancy continues to increase, the number of people suffering from some form of dementia will triple compared to today.
According to the research group's calculations, in three decades, senile dementia may affect more than 130 million people (currently, 47 million people with neurodegenerative disorders have been recorded, and about 10 years ago - about 27 million). The experts of the research center noted in their report that according to statistics, today there are about a million people over 60 years old in the world. If we take into account the trend towards an increase in life expectancy, observed recently, in 35 years the number of people who have crossed the 60-year mark will increase by an average of 200%, and accordingly the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, in particular, Alzheimer's disease, will increase, since this form of dementia most often affects people after 65 years.
It is worth noting that to date, specialists have not been able to establish the exact causes of Alzheimer's disease, in addition, despite all the achievements in the world of science and medicine, an effective treatment for this disease has not yet been found. All existing drugs only help to alleviate some symptoms and slow down the pathological process a little (provided that they are treated at early stages), and today the disease is considered incurable.
At the University of California, a group of researchers studying Alzheimer's disease came to the conclusion that there are 9 factors that provoke the disease.
As studies have shown, these factors led to the development of the disease in 2/3 of cases, but most of them can be avoided and the risk of developing dementia in old age can be significantly reduced if you adhere to a healthy lifestyle.
Experts also believe that risk avoidance is the best way to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
In their work, the experts analyzed more than 300 research papers, in which they identified 9 of more than 90 possible risk factors, in their opinion, the most dangerous. These primarily include obesity, smoking, depressive disorders, hypertension, narrowing of the carotid artery, type 2 diabetes, elevated homocysteine levels, and low education.
It was also found that people taking estrogen, statins, and anti-inflammatory drugs had significantly lower levels of the above risk factors.
Scientists noted that caffeine, vitamins C, E, B9 also help prevent the development of senile dementia.
This work is only an observation of specialists, and experts did not make any precise conclusions about the causes and effects of senile dementia, but they are confident that healthy eating, an active lifestyle and mental stability will help prevent new cases of senile dementia.
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