Our brains are in rougher shape than we think. New research from the World Health Organization and others estimates that nearly half of the world’s population suffers from a neurological disorder such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke or epilepsy. Collectively, these neurological problems are now considered the largest leading cause of disability and disease worldwide.
The findings are the latest global burden of disease The study is a long-term research project tracking the prevalence and harm of many health conditions and diseases. The GBD project as a whole is managed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, and this latest analysis includes the collaboration of WHO scientists and many others. The health and mortality data used to create these reports are collected from governments, hospitals and other sources around the world and are current as of 2021.
Past GBD studies have attempted to calculate deaths from certain neurological complications. But according to the authors of the new paper, publish This month’s issue of The Lancet Neurology does not yet provide a comprehensive account of all conditions involving our brains and nervous systems, such as neurodevelopmental disorders. In the study, scientists looked at a total of 37 unique conditions, including migraines, epileptic seizures, various forms of dementia, and more.
The study authors found that as of 2021, approximately 3.4 billion people, or 43% of the world’s population, were living with at least one of these neurological diseases. These diseases are estimated to be the leading causes of ill health and disability compared with other widespread diseases, such as infectious diseases. However, this burden is not felt equally, with approximately 80% of neurological deaths and diseases occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The top ten leading causes of shortened healthspan include stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraines, dementia and diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage caused by advanced diabetes).
“Neurological diseases cause immense suffering to affected individuals and families, and deprive communities and economies of their human capital,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a report. statement Announce results. “This study should serve as an urgent call to action to expand targeted interventions so that increasing numbers of people living with neurological diseases receive the high-quality care, treatment and recovery they need.”
The study found that the proportion of people living with or dying from a neurological disease fell after adjusting for age from 1990 to 2021, meaning the chance of either problem developing over time All are shrinking. But as the global population continues to grow, the absolute number of healthy years lost has increased by 18% since then. While damage to the nervous system from some diseases, such as stroke, rabies and meningitis, has decreased, damage from others has increased, with cases of diabetic neuropathy tripling in the past 30 years.
Although there have been some successes since 1990 in reducing or preventing important risk factors associated with neurological diseases, such as greater vaccination coverage for some diseases such as tetanus, the authors say more can and should be done . For example, actions such as reducing air pollution or preventing high blood pressure could significantly reduce the burden of stroke, while further eliminating lead exposure could prevent many cases of intellectual disability.
“It is more important than ever to ensure that brain health from early childhood to later life is better understood, valued and protected,” said Adhanom Ghebreyesus.