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GenevaTask force to better prevent Alzheimer’s disease
The University of Geneva and the HUG will pilot an international action plan once morest the most common neurodegenerative disease in the world.
In Switzerland, some 150,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
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“It is for Madame and Monsieur Everyman to reduce the risk of future memory problems”, summarizes the prof. Giovanni Frisoni, Director of the Memory Center of Geneva University Hospitals (HUG). The expert is now at the head of an international task force once morest Alzheimer’s disease.
Presented on Tuesday and led by the University of Geneva and the HUG, it brings together scientists from twenty-seven European institutions and one American. His action plan, outlined in the journal “Lancet Regional Health”, aims to better prevent this brain degeneration that affects millions of people on the continent (see framed). In Swiss, 150,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
Open Memory Centers 2.0
Drawing on the skills and experience of its members, the task force intends to develop ‘next generation memory clinics’, focusing on prevention. For the time being, an establishment of this type exists in Scotland. “We seek to stimulate public and private hospitals as well as doctors to open such structures”, summarizes prof. Giovanni Frisoni.
The action plan has four pillars: risk assessment, communication and reduction, and cognitive reinforcement. The risk factors are grouped together in an evaluation grid. The task force protocol aims to better personalize the way in which the risks of developing Alzheimer’s are presented to each person who consults.
Predict the future
Drug and non-drug interventions are also on the agenda. “We are already integrating scientific advances which, if they have not yet materialized, will in the near future”, indicates the Geneva professor. Finally, the new generation centers will also aim to stimulate the different types of memory (subjective, objective, etc.) through games and exercises, on paper or on the computer.
A growing disease
While lifestyles (physical activity, diet, cardiovascular prevention) have reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the aging of the population is, however, causing the number of cases to explode. Today, more than 6 million people in Europe are affected by this disease or other dementias; this figure is expected to double by 2050.
Characterized by memory loss and progressive cognitive deficits, Alzheimer’s is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the population, underlines the Unige. The overall cost, direct and indirect, of dementia amounts to 11.8 billion francs per year in Switzerland, according to a study of the Swiss Alzheimer’s organization.
