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5.1
Introduction
The world population is aging. Improvements in health care in the last century have helped people to have longer and healthier lives. However, this has resulted in an in- crease in the number of people with age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Neurodegenerative diseases are responsible for mitigating states, largely un- treated and are closely linked with age. Among these disorders, dementias are respon- sible for the greatest burden of disease, with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders the causes of impairment of approximately seven million people in Europe. This figure is expected to double every 20 years, as the population ages.
Currently, care and treatment of patients with some form of dementia in Europe ac- counts for a cost of around 130,000 million euros a year, according to estimates by the Joint Programme of the European Union for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND). This comes to show that age-related neurodegenerative disorders are one of the leading medical and social challenges facing our society.
Although primarily affecting older people, dementia is not a normal part of aging. De- mentia is a syndrome mainly of chronic or progressive nature, caused by a variety of brain illnesses that affect memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform activi- ties of daily life. Dementia is devastating not only for those who suffer from it but also for their caregivers and family. Worldwide, it is one of the leading causes of disabili- ty and dependence among the elderly. In most countries somehow there is a lack of awareness and understanding of dementia, causing stigmatization, barriers to diagno- sis and care, and impacts on caregivers, family and society, both from the physical as well as psychological and economic point of view.
International scientific collaboration increases more and more, not only because of the availability of international funding and the drive of modern communication technolo- gies, but also because science itself has become a truly international collaborative ac- tivity. In particular, the scope and scale of the problem of neurodegenerative diseases in today’s society require a global response to confront this great challenge and thus
5. International relations
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