EU urged to combat Alzheimer’s disease

MEPs are set to call for a pan-European action plan aimed at making Alzheimer’s disease a key EU health priority.

The appeal comes in the wake of worrying new research showing that the prevalence of the disease is expected to double over the next decade.

Addressing MEPs at a seminar in the European parliament on Tuesday, Professor Alexander Kurz said that the 6.1 million people who currently suffer from Alzheimer’s in Europe is expected to rise to 12 million by 2020.

The disease is traditionally seen as something which afflicts people in their old age but a Kurz, professor of psychiatry based in Munich, also said that people as young as 19 had been diagnosed with the condition.

Addressing a meeting on current and future treatments of the disease, Kurz also cautioned against expectations of a “miracle” cure for Alzheimer’s.

He said, "There is no doubt that, with a fast ageing population, the prevalence of this condition is going to increase quite dramatically. But I have to say there is no fast track to new and better treatment, certainly not within the next five years."

Kurz said that the effectiveness of current medication for the disease was "modest."

He added, "The drugs we have now are the best we have ever had but they are still not good enough and will not change anything in determining the course of the disease."

However, research has shown, he said, that lifestyle changes, such as eating oily fish and a healthy diet, could help.

The meeting heard that French EPP member Francoise Grossetete plans to introduce a written declaration in parliament calling for a pan-European action plan aimed at tackling the problem, which can result in a series of painful memory loss.

Former UK premier Margaret Thatcher is among those with the condition.

The MEP said such a plan should include a commitment to beefing up EU-wide research into the disease, improving early diagnosis and offering better support to sufferers and their families.

The declaration will also demand an information campaign aimed at raising awareness of the disease.

Grossetete will launch the declaration on 21 September which has been designated as World Alzheimer’s Day.

"It is high time that this disease was given a higher priority by the EU and this declaration will offer one such opportunity," said Jean Georges, director of Alzheimer Europe.

Delays in diagnosing the disease are seen as a particular problem. On average, diagnosis after the first symptoms are initially noticed, takes 20 months but in France this rate rises to 24 months and to 32 months in the UK.

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