About a year ago, Carol D’Souza’s 95-year-old mother passed away after a decade-long battle with dementia. The diagnosis had come as a shock to the family, residents of Bandra West, who were largely unfamiliar with the condition. She was one of 38,43,118 individuals in the country living with dementia in 2019, and like many other families, Carol and her loved ones are still at a loss for answers about the cause and why it happened.
The Lancet Commission’s latest report, released a few days ago, outlines 14 preventable risk factors for dementia. However, as Dr Pawan Ojha, a neurologist at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, remarks, “We understand how dementia and Alzheimer’s disease occur, but we do not fully grasp why they happen. It’s likely we may never truly understand the underlying reasons.”
Answering a question in Lok Sabha in 2022, the health ministry cited the earlier Lancet report and noted that while there is no locally maintained data for dementia, it is estimated to rise to 1,14,22,692 in the country by 2050. Penned by 27 of the world’s leading dementia experts, including Dr Suvarna Alladi at NIMHANS in Bangalore, the Lancet report identifies lower education levels in early childhood as a significant risk factor.
Read more at https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/lancet-lists-14-risk-factors-for-dementia-23371812