Up to 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed: WHO

AFP | Geneva

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Up to 45 percent of dementia risk could be prevented or delayed, the World Health Organization said yesterday, citing modifiable risk factors such as tobacco and air pollution.

Dementia is the seventh leading cause of death and a major cause of disability and dependency among older people globally.

Dementia is caused by brain diseases and affects memory, thinking and the ability to function.

"While there is no cure for dementia, up to 45 percent of the risks can be attributed to modifiable risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol use, social isolation, physical inactivity, air pollution and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including high blood pressure and diabetes," the WHO said in a statement.

More than 57 million people live with dementia worldwide and nearly 10 million people get diagnosed every year, it said.

Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia and is estimated to account for 60 to 70 percent of cases.

The UN health agency issued its first dementia recommendations in 2019, but said the evidence base had grown significantly since. The guidelines aim to promote early awareness and intervention in a bid to reduce the burden of dementia in the coming decades, it said.

Although more common after 65, the condition is not an inevitable part of ageing, the WHO insisted.