Neurological morbidity is the world's number 1 cause of morbidity and disability, with over 3 billion people with brain diseases * according to an article published this weekend in the Lancet. The scope of morbidity and disability has grown since 1990 by 18%
According to a study published on the weekend in the magazine The Lancet Neurology, more than 3 billion people in the world, which is more than one out of three people on the planet, live with neurological diseases, which have become the world's leading burden factor in morbidity and disability (overtaking cardiovascular diseases and cancer).
Following the publication, the World Health Organization (WHO) rushed to release a statement to the global media, stating that the extent of morbidity and disability resulting from neurological conditions has grown by 18% since 1990.
according to Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus): "Neurological diseases cause great suffering to patients and families and greatly harm the world's economies and human capital."
He urgently calls on the international community and world governments to expand neurology services, patient care and rehabilitation from early childhood to the end of life.
Despite the jump in morbidity, there is also a decrease in certain brain diseases in some countries thanks to preventive medicine, which includes vaccines, treatment and research.
Treatment of the risk factors reduces brain morbidity, but there is a lack of neurologists and beds in neurological departments
According to the World Health Organization, there are 20 risk factors, the elimination or reduction of which significantly reduces neurological morbidity, including the incidence of stroke, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases.
Among these risk factors: smoking, high consumption of sugar, lack of physical activity, air pollution and more.
"The disease of the brain and nervous system encompasses hundreds of functional and mental disabilities, and is currently the world's leading cause of physical and cognitive disability," says Prof. David Tana, chairman of the Israel Neurological Association.
The union examined the financial implications of brain disease, and found that the cost of 6 main types of disease (stroke, dementia, chronic migraines, Parkinson's, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis) amounts to an astronomical sum of approximately NIS 7 billion per year in Israel
"In recent years, we have struggled as a union to change the system's attitude towards neurology. The Ministry of Health's report for examining the profession in Israel indicated a large gap between the human capital of the neurologists in the country, and the infrastructure and manpower that is lacking in the hospitals and in the community," says Prof. Tana.
According to him: "The report illuminates a long list of systemic deficiencies and outlines a road map for change. Still, about half of those hospitalized with neurological disease in hospitals are in internal wards, not in neurology departments. Brain disease in Israel does not stop growing, but this is not fate. We have the knowledge and tools to prevent neurological disease and reduce disabilities. For example, about 80 percent of cerebral events and about a third Dementia cases are preventable, and with appropriate preparation, it is possible to prevent a relapse At this time there is not enough infrastructure in Israel, there is a lack of neurology beds and beds in stroke units and mainly there is a shortage of 300 neurologists in the field of neurology and the problem is aggravated because about a third of the neurology specialists in Israel are approaching retirement age, or have even passed it. ".
The war exacerbates the extent of neurological morbidity
Prof. Tana adds: "During the war, there was another surge in the need for neurology services, and the difficulty increased in providing a reasonable response to the "routine" neurological disease of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of patients in Israel. Many chronic and common neurological diseases, such as: Parkinson's, migraine, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy Exacerbated in stressful situations, with an emphasis on mental stress, which has been so common since October 7th At the same time, the outbreak of the war on it has also occurred in the events of stroke and cerebral hemorrhage in particular. In view of the increasing scope of morbidity, the neurological needs will increase, and there is no doubt that in order to provide an adequate response, it is necessary to strengthen the profession of neurology."
Link to World Health Organization message
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