Alzheimer’s sufferers set to quadruple by 2050

THE number of people worldwide living with Alzheimer’s disease will quadruple by 2050, experts said yesterday.

Almost half of them (43%) will need high-level care as the “global epidemic” takes hold, they said.

The estimated 26 million people worldwide living with the condition will grow to more than 106 million by 2050, US researchers predicted.

The US research, which blames an increasingly ageing population, was presented at the International Conference on the Prevention of Dementia being held in Washington DC. Lead author Professor Ron Brookmeyer, from the Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland, said: “We face a global epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease as the world’s population ages.

“By 2050, one in 85 persons worldwide will have Alzheimer’s disease. However, if we can make even modest advances in preventing Alzheimer’s or delay its progression, we could have a huge global public health impact.”

The biggest rise in the number of Alzheimer’s cases will occur in Asia, where 48% of sufferers currently live. There, prevalence will grow from 12.65 million in 2006 to 62.85 million in 2050 (accounting for 59% of all cases), the study said.

It comes as experts unveiled a test that can predict a person’s risk of getting dementia in the next six years. The test combines medical history, cognitive function and a physical examination and is 87% accurate, say experts at San Francisco VA Medical Centre in California.