Dementia Is Not Inevitable
In his view, “the potential to prevent or delay nearly half of dementia cases by addressing these risk factors is nothing short of revolutionary. It shifts our perspective from viewing dementia as an inevitable part of aging to seeing it as a condition we can actively work to prevent,” Dr. Lakhan added.
He said the report’s emphasis on health equity is also important.
“Dementia risk factors disproportionately affect socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and low- and middle-income countries. Addressing these disparities isn’t just a matter of fairness in the fight against dementia, equality in prevention is as important as equality in treatment,” Dr. Lakhan commented.
While the report offers hope, it also presents a challenge, he said.
Implementing the recommended preventive measures requires a “coordinated effort from individuals, healthcare systems, and policymakers. The potential benefits, both in terms of quality of life and economic savings, make this effort not just worthwhile but imperative. Preventing dementia is not just a medical imperative — it’s an economic and humanitarian one,” Dr. Lakhan said.
Masud Husain, PhD, with the University of Oxford in England, agreed.
The conclusions in this report are “very important for all of us, but particularly for health policy makers and government,” he said.
“If we did simple things well such as screening for some of the factors identified in this report, with adequate resources to perform this, we have the potential to prevent dementia on a national scale. This would be far more cost effective than developing high-tech treatments, which so far have been disappointing in their impacts on people with established dementia,” Dr. Husain said.
The Lancet Commission was funded by University College London, Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK, and the Economic and Social Research Council. A complete list of author disclosures is available with the original article. Dr. Snyder, Dr. Lakhan, Dr. Husain and Dr. Spires-Jones have no relevant disclosures.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.