Every July 22, World Brain Day is commemorated to raise awareness about its potential, as well as its risks and diseases.
The date was imposed by the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), an entity that each year chooses a central theme. Its 2022 edition is celebrated under the motto “Brain health for all.”
Optimal brain health includes the functional ability to perform all the various tasks for which the brain is responsible, including movement, perception, learning and memory, communication, problem solving, judgment, decision making and the emotion.
However, according to WHO figures, more than 55 million people in the world (8.1% of women and 5.4% of men over 65 years of age) live with dementia, and it is estimated that this This figure will increase to 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050.
According to WFN data worldwide, diseases that affect the brain constitute 6.3% of disabilities.
The most prevalent brain diseases or conditions worldwide are dementia (which has Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) as the main cause with almost 75% of patients), which is followed by frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with Lewy bodies, and by multiple brain infarctions.
Secondly, there are cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), both ischemic and hemorrhagic. Other diseases are epilepsy, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), migraine (severe headache or migraine), head trauma due to domestic or traffic accidents, mental disorders, infectious diseases (meningitis, encephalomyelitis). and congenital diseases (down syndrome).
While heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, the authors of the American Heart Association’s Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics noted that brain diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, They are increasing substantially and are often associated with many of the same risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and smoking.
