Wolfson Memorial Lecture explores dementia prevention
Opening the lecture, Professor Harrison noted the importance of Fox’s work for neurology specialists and dementia patients in Africa. “Today we are going to focus on a growing health concern in Africa, which is Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
“Worldwide, dementia is the fifth leading cause of death. The World Health Organization estimates that, by 2050, 150 million people will be living with dementia. This is an increase of 204% from 2017 and health practitioners predict that most of the increase will be felt by low- and middle-income countries in Africa,” she said.
Adding to this, Fox emphasised the impact that dementia has both on an individual and societal level and highlighted the opportunities that a better understanding of the syndrome present.
“Dementia is a disconnection on so many levels. It’s a loss of connection between the neurons, of which we each have 80 to 100 million that each have thousands of connections. They are the essence of what makes us a thinking human,” he explained.
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