Alzheimer’s, the face of old age in these times
Confusion, fear of loneliness, incomplete phrases, loss of the way home, among other situations, are some of the first signs of Alzheimer’s, narrated by relatives, the patients themselves and corroborated by scientific literature.
The also known Alzheimer’s disease is spread all over the planet and every day new cases debut, even statistics from global institutions estimate that by the middle of this century 131.5 million people will live with this neurodegenerative disease, which its prevalence will triple by now. Considered the most common form of dementia, 46.8 million people live with this mental illness and between 60 and 80 percent of these correspond to the condition first described in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer.
Specialists consider it to be one of the most significant crises for human beings from a health, social and economic point of view, which is why the global vision of the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding its management and control is prevention.
Research on the subject shows that after the age of 65, the probability of developing it doubles every five years that one advances in age and at 85 it is close to 50 percent.
This appalling figure is accompanied by the progressive increase in the aging of the world population; hence the need for the scientific community to unite more efforts in the search for possible effective treatments once the disease has been diagnosed and to work on how to slow its progress.
For these reasons, every September 21st since 1994 is a day of global reflection to seek common solutions to mitigate its impact and raise awareness throughout society about its consequences.
In search of a therapy
The search for effective treatments is one of the priorities of the international scientific community. More than 300 clinical trials are underway to achieve effective therapy.
Cuba joins this effort with the clinical trial of NeuroEpo, a nasal drug derived from recombinant human erythropoietin, created by the Center for Molecular Immunology.
With positive results after its application in patients, the drug has been shown to have a neuroprotective effect during the experimental phases.
According to recent statistics, some 160,000 people in Cuba suffer from the disease and it is estimated that by 2040 these will increase 2.3 times reaching 2.7% of the total population of the island.
By 2050 Cuba will become the ninth country with the largest elderly population in the world.
(Taken from RHC in Spanish)
Written by Radio Grito de Baire
