Dementia and physical activity

Abstract

Already today, the increase in life expectancy and the accelerated increase in longevity—the number of centenarians will triple from the year 2000 to 2050 [15]—confronts us with questions which are not easily answered. But what we can realize from social and economic development is that we will be forced not only to cure diseases but much more to prevent them. This particularly applies to those diseases which coincide with the aging development as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. There is not only need of reliable and valid dementia diagnosis [8] and of effective medication but there is also an urgent need to discover and implement effective physical activity interventions. With the worldwide demographic trend of population aging, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia will become an increasingly major public health problem among the elderly. The term “dementia” describes a syndrome associated with a range of diseases which are characterized by the progressive impairment of brain functions, including language, memory, perception, personality, and cognitive skills. These diseases lead to a decline in the ability to perform everyday activities. These declines in mental function may manifest themselves through different symptoms at various times. Alzheimer’s disease is themost common form of dementia, estimated to be responsible for 70% of dementia cases. It is followed by vascular dementia as probably the next common type. Depression affects up to 40% of patients with dementia, usually when dementia is mild or moderate, andmay cause vegetative symptoms, e.g., withdrawal, anorexia, weight loss, or insomnia (cf. [12]). Wimo et al. [18] estimated the worldwide occurrence of dementia in 2000 and during the period 1950–2050. The calculations were based on worldwide demographics of the elderly and age-specific prevalence and incidence values of dementia, estimated from a meta-analysis. The worldwide number of persons with dementia in 2000 was estimated at about 25 million persons. Almost half of the demented persons (46%) lived in Asia, 30% in Europe, 12% in North America, 7% in Latin America, and 5% in Africa. About 6.1% of the population of 65 years of age and older suffered from dementia (about 0.5% of the worldwide population) and 59% were female. Incidence rates were recently calculated from United Nations estimations and projections from prevalence, remission, and mortality data by Ferri et al. [4]. Though evidence from well-planned representative epidemiological surveys is scarce in many regions, they found that 24–30 million people have dementia today, with four to six million new cases of dementia every year (one new case every 7 s). The number of people affected will double every 20 years to 81–100 million by 2040. Most people with dementia live in developing countries—60% in 2001 and rising to 71% by 2040. Rates of increase are not uniform; numbers in developed countries are forecasted to increase by 100% between 2001 and 2040 and by more than 300% in India, China, and their south Asian and western Pacific neighbors. These detailed estimates seem to constitute the best currently available basis for policymaking, planning, and allocation of health and welfare resources. We must conclude that dementia is one of the most common causes of institutionalization, morbidity, and mortality among the elderly and we have to face the obvious consequences. Eur Rev Aging Phys Act (2008) 5:1–3 DOI 10.1007/s11556-008-0033-6