{"id":699,"date":"2013-12-13T09:15:30","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T22:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=699"},"modified":"2013-12-13T09:15:30","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T22:15:30","slug":"dementia-researchers-call-for-g-8-to-focus-on-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=699","title":{"rendered":"Dementia Researchers Call for G-8 to Focus on Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>44 million people have dementia worldwide<\/li>\n<li>better diet, exercise, low blood pressure, not smoking and avoiding obesity present key aspects of preventing dementia<\/li>\n<li>Vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid would cost pennies a day and slowed atrophy of gray matter in brain areas affected by Alzheimer\u2019s disease, according to a study published in May by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-12-10\/dementia-researchers-call-for-g-8-to-focus-on-prevention.html\">http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-12-10\/dementia-researchers-call-for-g-8-to-focus-on-prevention.html<\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Dementia Researchers Call for G-8 to Focus on Prevention<\/h1>\n<div>\n<div>By Andrea Gerlin\u00a0\u00a0Dec 10, 2013 9:00 PM ET<\/div>\n<div>\n<figure><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">The suffering and costs of dementia would be reduced by preventative measures if the Group of Eight nations adopt a model that has worked in fighting heart disease, a group of doctors and scientists said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAbout half of Alzheimer\u2019s disease cases worldwide might be attributable to known risk factors,\u201d they said in a statement before a G-8\u00a0<a title=\"Open Web Site\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-12-10\/%5Cdementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk%5Ccategory%5Cg8-dementia-summit%5C\" rel=\"external\">meeting<\/a>\u00a0in London tomorrow to coordinate responses to the condition. \u201cTaking immediate action on the known risk factors could perhaps prevent up to one-fifth of predicted new cases by 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The costs of dementia were estimated at $604 billion for 2010, the group said, and the number of cases is set to more than triple by 2050. The 111 signatories from 36 countries called on governments to back more research into prevention, and policies such as promotion of healthier diets. The G-8 are the U.K., U.S.,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/topics.bloomberg.com\/germany\/\">Germany<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/topics.bloomberg.com\/france\/\">France<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/topics.bloomberg.com\/canada\/\">Canada<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/topics.bloomberg.com\/italy\/\">Italy<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/topics.bloomberg.com\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a>and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/topics.bloomberg.com\/japan\/\">Japan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe choice is stark,\u201d said Zaven Khachaturian, a signatory and editor-in-chief of U.S. journal<a title=\"Open Web Site\" href=\"http:\/\/www.journals.elsevier.com\/alzheimers-and-dementia\/editorial-board\/\" rel=\"external\">Alzheimer\u2019s &amp; Dementia<\/a>. \u201cEither you invest money in creating this infrastructure for preventing or delaying dementia, or continue along the way. If we continue with the current trends, no country\u2019s health-care system will be able to provide care.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Cheap Vitamins<\/h2>\n<p><a title=\"Open Web Site\" href=\"http:\/\/www.alz.co.uk\/\" rel=\"external\">Alzheimer\u2019s Disease International<\/a>\u00a0estimates that\u00a0<a title=\"Open Web Site\" href=\"http:\/\/www.alz.co.uk\/news\/g8-policy-brief-reveals-135-million-people-with-dementia-by-2050\" rel=\"external\">44 million people<\/a>\u00a0worldwide have dementia, which will rise to 76 million in 2030 and 135 million by 2050, according to data from the group of Alzheimer\u2019s associations.<\/p>\n<p>About $40 billion has been invested in drug development efforts that haven\u2019t produced effective new medicines, the researchers said in today\u2019s statement. Even so, recent research suggests there may be cheap options to help tackle the problem.<\/p>\n<p>A cocktail of vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid would cost pennies a day and slowed atrophy of gray matter in brain areas affected by Alzheimer\u2019s disease, according to a study published in May by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>About half the fall in deaths from conditions such as heart disease and stroke in the past 50 years resulted from modifying risk factors, according to the scientists advocating prevention. Taking a similar approach to dementia by encouraging middle-aged people to adopt healthy lifestyles may ward off the condition as it does other diseases and save \u201chuge sums,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<h2>Healthy Lifestyle<\/h2>\n<p>A healthy lifestyle includes exercising; not smoking; following a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish; avoiding obesity, diabetes and excessive alcohol; and treating high blood pressure, the researchers said.<\/p>\n<p>Other research is helping to identify people at risk. A person\u2019s chance of getting dementia before age 65 may develop as early as adolescence, according to a study that suggests teens with high blood pressure or who drink excessively are at risk.<\/p>\n<p>Other risk factors include stroke, use of antipsychotics, father\u2019s dementia, drug intoxication, as well as short stature and low cognitive function, according to the study of Swedish men published by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in August.<\/p>\n<p>G-8 governments should set goals, stimulate more collaborative research, coordinate policies and establish consistent rules for data sharing, intellectual property and ethics, Khachaturian said in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn\u2019t cleared new drugs for memory loss conditions in a decade. Approved medicines such as\u00a0<a title=\"Get Quote\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/quote\/4523:JP\">Eisai Co. (4523)<\/a>\u2019s Aricept ease symptoms without slowing or curing dementia.<\/p>\n<h2>Useful Lessons<\/h2>\n<p>A joint U.S.-European Union task force in 2011 found that all disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer\u2019s in the previous decade failed late-stage trials \u201cdespite enormous financial and scientific efforts.\u201d Since then, at least four more experimental treatments have failed.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Karran, director of research at the charity\u00a0<a title=\"Open Web Site\" href=\"http:\/\/www.alzheimersresearchuk.org\/\" rel=\"external\">Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK<\/a>, who wasn\u2019t among the signatories to the statement, said that failed trials can provide useful lessons. One of the four medicines,\u00a0<a title=\"Get Quote\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/quote\/LLY:US\">Eli Lilly &amp; Co. (LLY)<\/a>\u2019s solanezumab, is undergoing further tests to determine if it helps people with mild Alzheimer\u2019s disease, Karran said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we could just get efficacy in one approach, we will unlock so much else, we will get so much more understanding,\u201d Karran said at a press conference on Dec. 4. \u201cIf solanezumab is shown to work in mild Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the pathway will be to take that earlier and earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>44 million people have dementia worldwide better diet, exercise, low blood pressure, not smoking and avoiding obesity present key aspects of preventing dementia Vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid would cost pennies a day and slowed atrophy of gray matter in brain areas affected by Alzheimer\u2019s disease, according to a study published in May &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=699\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dementia Researchers Call for G-8 to Focus on Prevention<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,10,13,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-facts-data-points","category-healthy-habits","category-nutrition","category-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":700,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions\/700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}