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GENEVA, May 14 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization on Tuesday released its first guidelines on the prevention and management of dementia, making physical activity the first of its recommendations to prevent HIV / AIDS. cognitive decline.
Quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet and avoiding the harmful use of alcohol were also among the recommendations of the WHO report entitled "Reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia".
The treatment of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes also reduces risk, the report says.
Neerja Chowdhary, a WHO expert, said the study was not about marijuana use and did not consider environmental factors, although there is evidence of a link with pollution and too much little evidence of a link to poor sleep. in the recommendations.
Vitamins and supplements are not helpful and could even be harmful if taken in large doses, she said.
But there was less evidence that cognitive training or social activity would prevent the onset of dementia, and not enough evidence that antidepressant drugs or hearing aids could help.
Dementia affects around 50 million people worldwide, with nearly 10 million new cases each year – a figure that is expected to triple by 2050, while the cost of care for dementia patients is expected to reach 2 million. 000 billion dollars by 2030, wrote Ren Minghui, Deputy Director General of WHO. in the report.
"Although there is no cure for dementia, proactive management of modifiable risk factors can delay or slow down the onset or progression of the disease," Ren wrote.
"Because many risk factors for dementia are shared with those of noncommunicable diseases, key recommendations can be effectively integrated into smoking cessation, cardiovascular disease risk reduction and nutrition programs."
According to the report, although age is the most important risk factor known for cognitive decline, dementia is not a natural or inevitable consequence of aging.
"Over the past two decades, several studies have shown a relationship between the development of cognitive impairment and dementia with educational attainment and lifestyle-related risk factors, such as physical inactivity, smoking , an unhealthy diet and a harmful use of alcohol "he said.
Maria C. Carrillo, chief scientist at the Alzheimer's Association in the United States, said there is ample evidence that people can do something to reduce the risks.
"Start now, it is not too late or too early to adopt healthy habits," she said.
Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said that dementia was the leading cause of death in Britain, but only 34% of adults realized that they could reduce risk, and the WHO report clarified what we knew and the missing evidence. .
(Tom Miles story, Kate Kelland story, Edited by Alison Williams)
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