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Our research on this topic was to find out how we can know the prevalence of
Alzheimer¶s disease in one country and in the world. However, it¶s not an easy
task to determine the approximate percentage of people with Alzheimer¶s
disease around the world.

During our period for gathering of information, we had the opportunity to

interview a very well-known neurologist, Dr. Ali Benomar, who has been
president of the world congress of neurology. He works in Morocco, so we
asked him about the prevalence of the Alzheimer¶s disease in Morocco. He
stated that there is no specific way to study the prevalence of Alzheimer¶s
disease in a country (naturally, neither in the world), but we can estimate an
approximate number of people suffering from Alzheimer through sever al test.
The main and first test we must do, is the memory test, since in the first stages
of Alzheimer¶s disease, we notice an alteration in the memory faculties.
However, there are more test than the memory one, though this is the most
important one to determine if a person is suffering from Alzheimer¶s disease.

A study made in 2003 showed an estimation of the worldwide occurrence of the

Alzheimer¶s disease in 2000 and during the 1950 -2050 period. The calculations
were based on the age-specific prevalence and on the demographics of the
elderly (worldwide), since the Alzheimer¶s disease appears mainly in the elderly.
It was estimated the worldwide number of persons with dementia in 2000 at
about 25 million persons.

From these 25 million persons, almost half of them live in Asia (46%), 30% in
Europe, and 12% in North America.

Besides, 52% of these people lived in less developed countries. Moreover, 59%
were female.

We found several reasons for these estimations. First of all, there are more
people in Asia than in Europe or North America, so it¶s perfectly expectable that
there will be a higher percentage of people suffering from Alzheimer¶s disease
and other types of dementia. We also expect a higher percentage in Asia
because the quality of life is considera bly worse than the one we could find in
Europe and North America. However, there is another point we should mention.
The Alzheimer¶s disease concentrates on the elderly. So, if we live more, there
is a higher risk of presenting the Alzheimer¶s disease. So the quality of life we
can find in Europe and North America and the higher life expectancy also
means that there is bigger risk of presenting the disease.
On the other hand, the life expectancy of female is higher than the male, and
this could explain, at least a part of it, the bigger prevalence of Alzheimer¶s
disease on female.

In the same article published in 2003, there was a forecast of the prevalence of
Alzheimer¶s disease in the next years. It indicated an important increase in the
number of old people suffering from Alzheimer¶s disease from 25 million people
to 63 million people in 2030 (and from these 63 million people, 41 people will
live in less developed regions) and to 114 million in 2050 (84 million people will
be in less developed regions).

This not only shows that the majority of demented elders live in less developed
regions, but that this proportion will definitely have a considerably increase in
the next decades.

Another important point, although it is slightly unrelated to the main point, is the
income of the less developed countries to face the costs of Alzheimer¶s disease.
These countries have a severe lack of recognition of dementia. That is to the
point that the families usually have no understanding of what is happening to
their loved one. But even in high income countries, there is a hard struggle to
cope with the demand of services, since Alzheimer¶s disease and other types of
dementia not only have a high p revalence, but also have a high cost on
research and health care.

The total estimated worldwide costs of dementia are US$604 billion in 2010.

In this aspect, we should ask politicians and key decision makers to work with
Alzheimer¶s disease and other types of dementia associations to make these
diseases a global health priority.

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