China has world’s fastest rise in dementia with up to 115 million cases forecast by 2050
The number of cases doubled globally in 30 years, but in China it rose threefold, according to a study that warned the problem may get worse
“Alzheimer’s and other dementias (ADD) are one of the diseases with the heaviest global disease burden. The disease burden of ADD in China and globally has increased year by year from 1990 to 2021,” said co-authors Siyu Liu and Geng Daoying, from Fudan University.
Geng’s research team used data from the Global Burden of Disease database – a free resource backed by international bodies such as the World Health Organization – to collect and analyse the incidence and potential risk factors of dementia in individuals aged 40 and over from 204 countries and regions.
They found that the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of dementia cases had doubled globally between 1990 and 2021, but over the same period the number of cases rose threefold in China.
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