The number of people living with dementia in Europe will continue to increase, even though the rate of diagnosis is decreasing, according to a new analysis.
The report was released yesterday (18 February) at the European Parliament by Alzheimer Europe, an umbrella group of Alzheimer organisations across Europe.
It includes up to date prevalence rates for dementia in Europe, based on a number of studies in the last 30 years. It shows a reduction in the prevalence of dementia across men of all age groups over the past decade. There was also a reduction in the prevalence of dementia among women, except for those aged 75 to 79 years.
The authors state that “women continue to be disproportionately affected by dementia with 6,650,228 women and 3,130,449 men living with dementia in Europe”.
They predict that the overall number will almost double by 2050 to 18,846,286 in the wider European region.
Jean Georges of Alzheimer Europe says: "It is promising to see that healthier lifestyles, better education and improved control of cardiovascular risk factors seem to have contributed to a reduction of the prevalence of dementia.
“However, our report also demonstrates that the number of people living with the condition is set to increase substantially in the years ahead, which will only place greater pressure on care and support services unless better ways of treating and preventing dementia are identified.
“If people with dementia, their families and carers are to receive the high-quality and person-centred care they need, governments must ensure their health and care systems are ready to meet this demand and greater investments in research into the treatment and prevention of dementia are needed."
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