Alzheimer's cases may quadruple by 2050

More than 26 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's disease, and a new forecast says the number will quadruple by 2050. At that rate, one in 85 people will have the brain-destroying disease in 40 years, researchers from Johns Hopkins University conclude.

The new estimates, being presented Sunday at an Alzheimer's Association conference in Washington, are not very different from previous projections of the looming global dementia epidemic with the graying of the world's population.

But they serve as a sobering reminder of the toll to come if scientists cannot find better ways to battle Alzheimer's and protect aging brains.

"If we can make even modest advances in preventing Alzheimer's disease, or delay its progression, we could have a huge global public health impact," said Johns Hopkins public health specialist Ron Brookmeyer, who led the new study.

The biggest jump is projected for densely populated Asia, home of almost half of today's Alzheimer's cases, 12.6 million. By 2050, Asia will have 62.8 million of the world's 106 million Alzheimer's patients, the study projects.

A recent U.S. study estimated that this nation's Alzheimer's toll will reach 16 million by 2050, compared with more than 5 million today. The new estimate is significantly lower, suggesting only 3.1 million North American cases today and 8.8 million by 2050.

Among the estimates for other regions are:

_Africa, 1.3 million today and 6.3 million in 2050.

_Europe, 7.2 million and 16.5 million.

_Latin America and the Caribbean, 2 million and 10.8 million.

_Oceania, 200,00 and 800,000.

The project was funded by Elan Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

___

On the Net:

Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070610...DexbZDrsA3VJRIF

Whatever will we do about this problem?



Never mind. We'll go spend millions to study all sort of genes, enzymes, proteins, etc to come up with drugs that cost billions.

U.S. Study Pits an Omega-3 Against Alzheimer's

Fri Jun 8, 11:46 PM ET

FRIDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers have launched a study to examine whether an omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can help slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The 18-month clinical trial will be conducted at 52 sites across the United States and will seek to enroll 400 people, age 50 and older, with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. The trial is supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

"Evidence to date in various research studies that have examined the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on Alzheimer's disease merits further evaluation in a rigorous clinical trial. Our hope is that we may find out that DHA plays a role in slowing the progression of this destructive disease," Dr. Raj Shah, medical director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said in a prepared statement.

The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center is one of the study sites.

Recent U.S. and European studies have reported that people with the highest blood levels of DHA were about half as likely to develop dementia as people with lower DHA levels.

During this new clinical trial, about 60 percent of the participants will receive either two grams of DHA per day, while 40 percent will be given an inactive placebo. Cognitive tests will be used to monitor patients' Alzheimer's disease progression during the study.

More information

For more information about the study, contact the NIA's Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center at 1-800-438-4380, or visit the referral center's Web site.

Suddenly out of all the insanity - there is a ray of hope!

If they would also put them on a low carb / glcemic diet and other properr supplemnts - most of these people would be cured

by 2050, Oceana will be under water.

Have the # for Africa been corrected for AIDS?

Any population forecast beyond 20 years is meaningless. Just pick a number, any number.

The most effective way to prevent AD seems to be a ketogenic Calorie restricted diet.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...h-cri091506.php

http://www.sciencedaily.com/release...60614113128.htm

Whoa - do we really have to fight about this again? Low carb diet offers the same benefits as a starvation diet - without having to starve yourself.

low carb diet for Alzheimer's

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...G=Google+Search

supplements for Alzheimer's

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...+Alzheimer%27s+

erm no, low carb does not do the same thing. As I said... low calorie low carb diet seem superior in its benefits on reducing AD. Hence it was able to almost completely prevent it, unlike a low carb diet which could only reduce the amyloid by 25%.


High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet May Help Alzheimer's (LOW CARB WITHOUT CR)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172476,00.html

After 43 days on the ketogenic diet, researchers found beta-amyloid protein levels in the brain were reduced by 25 percent

CALORIE RESTRICTION AND AD
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=56816

"In the diet-restricted mice, both the amount and size of plaque was about 50 per cent less than in mice that ate as much as they wanted. "

Low carb and low calorie diet together
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/99/105216

"After nine months, the mice brains were examined. The low-calorie, low-carb group "almost completely" avoided forming plaque in their brains, say the researchers. The same sort of plaque has been found in deceased Alzheimer's patients' brains."

I thought the whole plaque = Alzheimer's thing took a big ding just very recently? WSJ, if I'm remembering correctly. That this theory had been the only one funded for years, and now it looks like it's not at all as clear as it did two years ago.

You can't just twist data to support your claim.

In one study they compare ketogenic against a normal diet with carbs. In the other study they let the mice "eat all they want".

We know nothing about the quality of the carbs, the amount and percentage of high glycemic carbs and the nutritional content.

I'll put a low carb diet with supplements up against a starvation diet any day. We'll look at health over a long period of time - and see who can stick with it.

Most of us have tried starvation diets and most of us have tried low carb diets. If the starvation diets worked - we would not have had to try the low carb diet.

I am not saying that a starvation diet is a bad thing. I am just saying that it is unrealistic to think that more than a few percent of people can stick with it - well into their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond.