According to a new report presented at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference this week in Toronto, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias increased more than 18 per cent across Ontario over the past 8 years.
“The increasing prevalence in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is not unique or surprising,” said co-author Colleen Maxwell, a professor in the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Science and the School of Public Health in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. “The overall population is aging and there’s more awareness of these types of diseases. We’re also taking much better care of people who have dementia. So, yes, the number of people living with dementia is increasing.”
Maxwell and her colleagues at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), the Ontario Brain Institute and the University of Toronto tracked the yearly prevalence, incidence and health care costs associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias using Ontario health administration data. The results appear as an update to the initial 2015 report by the same group.
Dr. Maxwell's research will be presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
She notes that while prevalence (the number of existing cases) increased, their data suggest the incidence (the number of new cases) of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia across Ontario slightly decreased over the same period. The slight decline in incidence cases is a positive finding and may reflect the recent impact of beneficial lifestyle changes and improvement in vascular risk factors like high blood pressure.
The team hopes to expand their study to explore ongoing trends in prevalence and incidence and to include other important data sources including information on patients’ quality of life and other health care use and costs. Advances in diagnoses may also assist with tracking the prevalence and incidence of dementia over time.
Early detection means better planning,” says Maxwell. “For most people the diagnosis comes too late with limited options for treatment and drugs.
The study and the report were funded by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Ontario Brain Institute.