The Coming Alzheimer Epidemic
In short, we are getting older with many of us. In the next 50 years a lot of inhabitants of the world will be over 65 years. A lot of them will have Alzheimers disease or Parkinsons disease.
How and what to do until then? Watch the video.
Biochemist Gregory Petsko makes a convincing argument that, in the next 50 years, we’ll see an epidemic of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, as the world population ages. His solution: more research into the brain and its functions.
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December 3, 2008 @ 5:57 am
of course a “neuro”stimulating blog would advocate more research money for neurological research 😉
while greater alzheimers prevalence is largely due to a greater portion of people living beyond 65, the obesity epidemic is projected to cause considerable morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease in people as young as in their 30s within the next 25 years. in the U.S. (yes, I know we are the obesity capital of the world), it is projected that over 80% of the U.S. population will be overweight or obese within 25 years!
but it’s not just the U.S. in China alone, the projected number of deaths from coronary heart disease from the obesity epidemic will be over 7 million in the decade of 2030–long before the 50 year time scale we are talking about for alzheimers and other neurological diseases.
disclaimer: i don’t work on vascular diseases
December 3, 2008 @ 9:29 am
Do you mean that in the future due to coronary artery disease people won’t be getting old enough to get alzheimers?
Interesting. I think it also advocates this kind of research since a lot of money compared to research for dementia goes to cardiology. What do you think?