Study of CNS disorders includes complications from Covid – 03/14/2024 – Health

The Global Burden Disease (GBD), an international health metrics institute, increased the number of diseases monitored by global monitoring of neurological disorders from 15 to 37 — among them, post-Covid-19 complications. The report, released this Thursday (14), contains data from 204 countries.

Published in the journal The Lacet Neurology, the “Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021” survey analyzes items such as mortality, prevalence between genders, years lived with disability, years of life lost and years of life adjusted for disability attributable to diseases and conditions that cause dysfunction in the nervous system.

In 2021, around 3.4 billion individuals worldwide were affected by neurological disorders. And although deaths from these diagnoses have fallen by 33.6% in the last 31 years, the number of disabled people has risen by 18.2% in the same period, indicating an increase in the costs of medical equipment, care, medicines and multidisciplinary treatment for these people. .

“We include morbidities and deaths from neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the central nervous system (CNS) or peripheral nervous system. We also isolate neurological health loss for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the main characteristic”, states the text.

The additions include congenital conditions (chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (such as jaundice, premature birth and sepsis), infectious diseases (Covid-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, Zika) and diabetic neuropathy.

The burden of the most prevalent neurological disorders is also investigated, such as epilepsy, migraine, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, nervous system injuries and stroke. For the authors, the addition of new conditions brings “a notable benefit as it provides a more accurate picture of the global burden of neurological disorders.”

Some of the newly included conditions, such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the autism spectrum) “may cross the boundaries of neurology and be more appropriately addressed in other medical specialties, such as pediatrics, internal medicine, geriatrics or psychiatry, depending on the situation, region or country”.

The effect these conditions can have on neurological function and overall health, however, should not be overlooked or dismissed, according to the study.

In the WHO (World Health Organization) Americas region, which comprises 51 countries and territories, the main concern highlighted by researchers is the lack of preparation to deal with the aging of the population. In 2019, stroke was the second leading cause of death in these locations and Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were the third.

“The resources allocated to address the situation fall far short of needs. Between 2020 and 2050, the proportion of Latin America and the Caribbean’s population over the age of 60 will nearly double, and this population aging is expected to lead to substantial increases of the number of people with neurological problems that would require coordinated and multidisciplinary care”, warn GBD collaborators.

The new document is based on the institute’s previous surveys and continues a historical series with records from 1990 to 2021 — the previous report was published with data from up to 2019.

The report is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and endorsed by the WHO.