Primary care practitioners on the front line of Alzheimer's disease care.

摘要

Dementia affects over 35 million people worldwide, and the prevalence is expected to increase exponentially, reaching over 115 million by 2050,l unless an intervention is found that will slow or prevent the disease. The primary reason for this explosion in prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the aging of the population. In France, for example, 22.3 million persons will have reached the age of 60 by 2050 compared to only 12.6 million in 2005, an increase of 80% in a 45-year period. The impact is expected to be even greater in developing countries, where increases of as great as 140% are anticipated by 2030.3 Moreover, the largest increases are expected among the oldest old, those 85 years of age and older. The size of this population group is expected to expand by 151% worldwide between 2005 and 2030.