By 2050, around three million people with dementia

World Alzheimer's Day: Three million dementia patients in Germany by 2050

09/20/2012

Currently, around 1.4 million people in Germany suffer from dementia. About every third person over 90 years is affected. Experts expect twice as many dementia patients by the year 2050, provided that they continue to fail to develop a promising therapy. It is easier to send a person to the moon than to find an active substance, it is said from expert circles. Due to the high care required, dementia is one of the most expensive diseases, the costs of which will continue to increase in the future.

Every year about 300,000 new diagnoses for dementia or Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative dementia disorder. Alzheimer's patients therefore suffer from dementia, but not every dementia sufferer is also affected by Alzheimer's disease. Using neuropsychological tests and imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with the help of which typical Alzheimer deposits in the brain can be detected, the type of dementia, in which a person is affected, can be diagnosed.

Alzheimer's disease is a creeping disease. First of all, the patients stand out due to their slight forgetfulness in everyday life. Many sufferers ask the same question over and over again, misplace objects, forget how to perform everyday tasks, are sometimes disoriented and neglect their appearance. At an advanced stage, even close family members become strangers to those affected. They simply no longer recognize children, grandchildren, siblings and friends.

However, according to experts Alzheimer's begins many years before the onset of clinical symptoms with the deposition of so-called senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. „The disease already appears to be present in the brain of humans - 15 years before the first symptoms appear, "explains Eric Karran of the British organization „Alzheimer's Research UK“.

The protein deposits of plaques consist mainly of incorrectly folded beta-amyloid (Aβ-) Peptides. In addition, neurofibrillary tangles that accumulate as bugs in the neurons characterize the disease. Alzheimer's disease is one of the so-called tauopathies because defective tau proteins migrate out of the cell body and attach to the axons. They restrict the cells to failure, since the tau proteins can not return to the cell body. In the end, the deposits cause the death of the neurons, which leads to the decrease of the brain mass. In addition, the messenger acetylcholine is produced in an insufficient amount, so that the brain power generally decreases. Despite intensive research, the exact causes and mechanisms of the neurodegenerative disease are not yet known. The corresponding diagnosis can usually only be made when the brain cells have been irretrievably damaged.

World Alzheimer's Day is under the motto „Dementia: living together“
There are currently around 1.4 million people in Germany who suffer from a form of dementia. About 900,000, two-thirds of those affected, suffer from Alzheimer's. Heike von Lützau-Hohlbein, chairman of the German Alzheimer's Association, speaks of „frightening numbers“. The biggest risk factor for the disease is age. Two-thirds of the patients are over 80 years old. Almost 70 percent of those affected are women. In some cases a genetic predisposition seems to exist.

On Friday, the International World Alzheimer's Day will take place. Doctors and associations take this opportunity to draw attention to the disease again. Under the motto „Dementia: living together“ Events and events take place in many countries. „We want to make visible that it depends on the coexistence. It is important to hear the needs and wishes of people with dementia and to consider the experience of the relatives, because only then is an individual care possible. Affected and relatives benefit from good advice and the knowledge of the professionals. Especially the professionals from medicine, care and therapy should exchange ideas and work together“, explains the chairman of the German Alzheimer's Association.

Physicians around the world are feverishly searching for a method for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease. Because an early diagnosis could at least delay the disease. For example, the so-called PET method that is used in the University Hospital Leipzig is suitable for this. By means of this method, the Alzheimer's typical plaque deposits in the brain can be visualized. According to nuclear medicine doctor Osama Sabri, the process could help, „to diagnose Alzheimer's early and with greater certainty. "

So far no successful therapy against dementia and Alzheimer's
„So far, there is no drug that can cure Alzheimer's disease. When and if such a remedy will be available can not be predicted“, reports Professor Isabella Heuser, Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Charité Berlin and board member of the Hirnliga e.V. Despite promising approaches, there are always setbacks. „The research is progressing intensively and there are promising results, but also disillusionment, for example, the euphoria over a soon available cause-related treatment has disappeared. As a researcher, we can only recommend again and again to take advantage of all the options already available for prevention and treatment. With early diagnosis and early onset of therapy, it is possible to positively influence the course of Alzheimer's disease.“

Only a few weeks ago, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson discontinued the development of a possible new drug for Alzheimer's, as this had proven in numerous tests as not sufficiently effective.

Due to the unsatisfactory therapy situation, experts advise against the progressive reduction of mental performance through behavioral, music or memory therapies, mental and physical activity as well as a balanced diet with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Scientists at the University of Ulm recently discovered a significantly reduced concentration of vitamin C and beta-carotene in the blood of dementia patients.

Dementia patients in Germany are not treated adequately?
Professor Hans Gutzmann, President of the German Aging Psychiatrist, answers this question with a clear statement „Yes!“. For an appropriate care of those affected drugs, non-drug therapies and nursing measures in a therapeutic overall concept should apply, the German Alzheimer's Association. The therapies would slow the disease down, so that sufferers can live longer self-determined and dignified. This also reduced the cost of housing in the nursing home, which could be done at a later date.

„The coexistence of health and long-term care funds in Germany means that people with dementia, as measured by international standards, are not treated adequately in Germany“, reports Gutzmann. „As long as the policy does not treat Alzheimer's disease as a nursing problem and does not recognize the opportunities offered by medical treatment, the separation between health and long-term care is maintained. In terms of business administration, it does not make sense for a health insurance company to pay for a treatment whose benefit - due to the later onset of long-term care - has the long-term care allowance. Therefore, the medically necessary and economically sensible remains undone.“ (Ag)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio