Alzheimer's: how many people are affected by the disease in France?

The leading cause of dementia, Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative pathology. According to the WHO, it affects more than 50 million people worldwide.

According to Alzheimer Europe, 25% of cases occur in Europe. Of the more than ten million people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's disease is thought to be the cause in 70% of cases.

France is one of the countries hardest hit.

The number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease in France

According to a study conducted by IPSOS in 2017, Alzheimer's is the second most feared disease in France. It is the most feared neurodegenerative pathology, apart from Parkinson's disease.

Affected patients suffer from impaired cognitive functions, aggression, memory and behavior disorders, dementia, loss of autonomy, hallucinations, language disorders, disorientation and aphasia. Memory loss is caused by the degeneration of brain cells.

In France, there are 3 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease. According to Santé Publique France, this number is on the rise. It rose from 900,000 to over 1.2 million cases from 2015 to 2019. More than 225,000 new cases are recorded every year.

The shortage of doctors in France

Alzheimer's disease is caused by the degeneration of nerve cells due to aging. This is why it mainly affects the elderly. The patient's age is the main risk factor, with a prevalence of 2% from the age of 65, and 18% after the age of 75. These prevalences double every 5 years.

The first symptoms of the disease often appear as early as age 75. However, some people may suffer from early-onset Alzheimer's disease. They present related disorders such as memory loss, mild cognitive decline, a mild form of dementia, and behavioral problems very early on. According to studies, there are over 33,000 cases of Alzheimer's in French people under 60.

In France, the breakdown of cases by age is as follows:

• 1 in 100 people under 70;
• 1 in 25 people under the age of 80 ;
• 1 in 5 over-80s;
• 1 in 3 people over 90.

Of the millions of people affected in France, around 17% are under 80, and 41% are over 90.

The number of people affected by Alzheimer's disease by gender

Gender is also an important risk factor. Numerous studies have shown that women are more likely than men to develop a degenerative brain disease. This is also the case in France, where twice as many women as men suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

However, this difference is not observed across all age groups. Among sufferers under the age of 80, the incidence is virtually the same for both sexes. But after the age of 80, the difference widens among those affected by the disease.

According to the Scientific Director of the "Vaincre Alzheimer" Foundation, Dr Maï Panchal, this difference in incidence is also linked to the age of the patients. According to her, there are more female patients affected by the disease because they have a longer life expectancy.

Changes in the number of Alzheimer's cases

Alzheimer's disease is the subject of much study and research. However, there are still no effective treatments. To date, caregivers have prescribed 4 treatments: Donepezil, Rivastigmine, Galantamine and Mémantine.

However, none of them are designed to cure or prevent the progression of the disease. These drugs are designed to compensate for the absence of certain substances essential to proper cognitive and cerebral function. They compensate for the consequences of nerve cell deterioration.

These drugs can neither slow nor halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The evolution of Alzheimer's disease in France

In France, curing this neurodegenerative disease is a priority. The French government has set itself the goal of making this possibleby 2030.

Meanwhile, according to WHO predictions, the number of cases is set to double again over the next twenty years. In France, the association Vaincre Alzheimer estimates over 1,800,000 cases by 2050, or 9.6% of French people over 65.

Alzheimer's disease and the number of cases worldwide

The number of cases continues to rise worldwide. At present, according to the WHO, there are more than 7.7 million cases every year. That's the equivalent of almost one new case every three seconds.

Of the 50 million people diagnosed with dementia, over 70% have the disease.

According to estimates published by the World Health Organization, in the absence of effective treatment, the number of people affected will triple by 2050, and double every 20 years.

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