Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia

Biography

Biography: Luis Angel Francisco Sorroza Lopez

Abstract

Dementia is a growing world health threatening condition declared as priority by WHO; the prevalence of the condition reached 47.5 million people in 2015, affecting mainly population over 65 years old. With an incidence of 7.7 million per year, the prevalence is expected to reach 81.1 million by the year 2040 and over 130 million in 2050, with increasing numbers in population under 50 and 40 years of age. Dementia represents one of the major burdens to health care systems globally ($812,000 million in 2015). The current pharmacological treatments are limited to mitigating the onset and development of the disease and management of the most usual symptoms, which modulate the course of the disease with diverse side effects that range from personal discomfort to sudden death. There is strong evidence from clinical studies that participation in mentally and physically stimulating activities in early stages of the disease (MCI, mild cognitive impairment) is associated with decreased incidence and/or prevalence of dementia. We have researched the database of Pubmed, Cochrane, Medline, Sciencedirect, and EBSCO, to collect evidence of 250 references on the following subjects: pathophysiology, management and the costs of dementia. From the mentioned data we have elaborated a cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit study; the analysis was performed under a Markov model, and the purpose is to compare the pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. The results feasibly support that an early diagnosis and onset of non-pharmacological intervention, both cognitive and physical, is the best cost-benefit choice for patients with MCI and dementia.