-
- COCHIN, India (Reuters) - Alzheimer's, the ``silent epidemic'' that
afflicts primarily elderly people, is causing increasing concern and spurring
scientists to find the cause and a cure. There are now an estimated 18
million victims -- some 5 percent of the world's elderly population --
suffering from the progressive, degenerative disorder of the brain that
affects memory, emotion and thought processes. Experts forecast that by
2020, Alzheimer's, which reduces victims to near vegetables before it takes
their lives, will affect 30 million people, with some 75 percent in developing
countries in Asia and Latin America. MOST COUNTRIES YET TO WAKE UP TO DANGER
With frightening predictions like that, alarm bells should have been ringing
loud and clear. But Alzheimer's experts who were in the southern Indian
city of Cochin for an international conference recently said that apart
from a handful of wealthy Western nations, few countries have awakened
to the danger. ``In many countries, it is still viewed as normal for older
people to develop memory problems,'' said Peter Whitehouse, Neurology professor
of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Ravi Anand, global
head of the central nervous system unit of the Swiss pharmaceutical group
Novartis, said it was difficult to understand why a disease that affects
five to 10 percent of the population above the age of 65 was given undue
attention. Last year, Novartis launched Exelon, a drug that slows the progress
of Alzheimer's. But the drug is presently approved in just 40 countries.
Mohan Issac, head of the psychiatry department at India's National Institute
of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, said Alzheimer's and other dementia
were ``only being recognized now'' in India and many other developing countries.
``In a way, these developing countries constitute about two-thirds of the
world population...and when you say two-thirds of the world is not alarmed,
that itself is scary.'' DEVELOPING WORLD STILL TACKLING TRADITIONAL HEALTH
PROBLEMS One of the main reasons for the developing world's inability to
focus attention on the relatively new Alzheimer's scare is its preoccupation
with traditional health problems. ``For countries in Asia, Latin America
and Africa, tuberculosis, cholera and malaria are still serious epidemics
they need to battle,'' said one expert. Martin Prince of London's Institute
of Psychiatry, an expert on the global prevalence of Alzheimer's, said
the focus in developing countries tends to be on child health care, maternal
health and reproductive health. ``These are the main priority areas for
reasons understandable, and probably quite justifiable,'' he said. The
West has had about 100 years to experience the transition of its young
population to old age. ``But this is a transition India, Latin America
and China in particular, are going to go through in only 20 to 30 years,''
he said. THE ELDERLY WIN LESS SYMPATHY Perhaps another explanation for
the relative neglect of Alzheimer's is the cruel reality that many societies
care less for their citizens the older they become. ``The diseases of the
elderly are not taken with the same degree of seriousness because older
people are viewed by some as not as valuable,'' said Whitehouse. Anand
brands that ``a very stupid logic,'' as the elderly have a lot to contribute
to society from their experience and wisdom. Experts also point out that
other diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, have become a focus of global attention
in a very short span of time because they affect younger people. ``I am
sure if Alzheimer's was something that happened to people in their 20s
and 30s there would be much more publicity about it,'' said Jane Gilliard,
director of Dementia Voice, a dementia services development Centre in Bristol,
England. Issac said that even in developed countries like the United States
and Britain, health care schemes ration resources for any problem afflicting
people above the age of 60. He said problems like HIV/AIDS, heart diseases
and cancer get much more funding because policy-makers know and relate
to people who are afflicted by these diseases. ``But they are not emotionally
able to understand what Alzheimer's is,'' he said. Nori Graham, chairman
of the Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI), which organized the conference,
said the need to raise awareness about the disease was the most important
recommendation of the meeting. ``The need to continue raising awareness
among the general public, politicians and health care professionals is
the first priority for action in all countries,'' she said. Experts said
a heightened awareness would automatically bring methods of caring for
patients that presently are almost nonexistent in the developing world.
^REUTERS@
|
