British report predicts dementia cases will double every 20 years

• The number of people who have dementia probably will double every 20 years with one new case every seven seconds, according to a report about Alzheimer's disease published in tomorrow's issue of the Lancet.
• About 24.3 million people have dementia today, and this number is set to rise to 42 million by 2020 and to 81 million by 2040, said lead researcher Cleusa Ferri from the King's College in London.
• Ferri reviewed data for the major regions of the world on behalf of Alzheimer's Disease International.
• The increase is inevitable because the world's population in aging and ``dementia happens when people are old,'' Ferri said in an interview today.
• ADI, an umbrella organization for national Alzheimer's associations, issued the study to highlight the need for more health and social services to deal with the disease, especially in developing countries.
• Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in people 65 and older.
• As many as 71 percent of all Alzheimer's disease patients will live in developing countries in 2040, compared with a share of 60 percent today.
• ``Health services in these countries are precarious and there isn't much for people with dementia,'' Ferri said in a telephone interview in London today.
• Dementia patients tend to live longer than people aged 60 or older who suffer from strokes, heart disease and some cancers, the researchers said.
• ``Primary prevention should focus on targets suggested by current evidence; risk factors for vascular disease, including hypertension, smoking, type 2 diabetes, and hyperlipidemia,'' the researchers said.
• People who are obese or overweight are more likely to lose mental abilities such as thinking and remembering because they tend to have higher cholesterol, studies show.
• Cholesterol may promote the formation of beta amyloid, a protein that's typically found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, studies suggest.