FAPESP agency – At least 1.76 million people over the age of 60 have some form of dementia in Brazil. That is revealed cover story in FAPESP research in July.
The estimate is in a report prepared by a specialist in neurology, geriatrics and mental health to be sent to the Ministry of Health in order to mobilize the government and contribute to creating a national action strategy to deal with the problem. According to the document, most of those affected – an as yet unknown fraction that, according to specialists, may exceed 70% of the total – do not even have a diagnosis, which prevents them from receiving adequate treatment to help control changes memory, reasoning, mood, and behavior that appear with disease progression.
The increase in dementia cases is not exclusive to Brazil. In much of the world, improvements in living conditions over the last century have allowed more people to live longer. In 2005, there were about 670 million people aged 60 and over in the world, equivalent to 10% of the total. In 2050, according to United Nations (UN) projections, there will be almost 2 billion, or 22% of humanity. But the countries will not be affected homogeneously. Dementia cases are expected to increase proportionally more in middle and low-income countries – in Latin America they will triple -, which overloads the health system and families.
Dementia is one of the leading causes of disability in the elderly and has a physical, psychological, social and economic impact on both the person with the disease and their caregivers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2019, US$ 1.3 trillion was spent worldwide to care for people with dementia.
The section dedicated to neuroscience presents a report on a remedy originally indicated to treat diabetes – known as exenatide-4 – has been touted as new promise to prevent and even reverse the damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Administered to mice genetically altered to exhibit the typical effects of neurodegenerative diseases, the drug reversed brain damage and improved the rodents’ memory. Similar results are observed in ongoing experiments with monkeys.
Another highlight of the issue is the discovery of a rare minerals in Ceará, which reveals extinct mountains and volcanoes in the interior of the State.
section of interview tells the story of chemical engineer Virginia Sampaio Teixeira Ciminelli, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). For at least 15 years, the specialist argued that the exploitation of natural resources should promote prosperity, especially for the population that lives in this area. A mine, for example, is part of a cultural and political space, in short, a territory. The difficulty of defending the concept of resource sharing does not make him give up on this and other initiatives, such as a training program for engineering students that strengthens their skills in working in multidisciplinary and multicultural environments.
transplant not used, it says details about a sodium battery genome of 233 primate species, including humans.