Around 50 million people in the European Union (EU) area suffer one or more neurological diseases, according to figures published by the World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland), in its “Neurology Atlas“, and the incidence is on the rise, according to the European Brain Council (EBC, Florence, Italy), which estimates a 20% increase in these diseases in coming years. The number of patients suffering dementia or Parkinson's disease alone is expected to double during this period.

Migraine is high on the list of the most common neurological diseases; according to the EBC, around 41 million Europeans suffer from stressful chronic headaches. A further 4.8 million people in the EU area suffer from some form of dementia, 2.6 million suffer from epilepsy, 1.2 million suffer from Parkinson's disease, and around 1 million people a year in the EU suffer a stroke.

Another widespread, but seriously under-diagnosed affliction is neuropathy, with 20 to 30 million people worldwide affected by the various forms of neuropathy. The steady increase in these so-called diseases of civilization, such as diabetic neuropathy--which affects more than one in three diabetics--represents a particular challenge to medical practitioners; at the same time, sensorimotor diabetic neuropathy is still the most important risk factor for nonaccident-related amputation of the lower extremities, since it carries a 50% risk of mortality within three years and from 60% - 70% within five years. However, while the underlying disease mechanisms of diabetic neuropathy are understood, they are much less clear for other, less common forms of neuropathy.

This is especially true for the rarer immune mediated polyneuropathy, a malfunction of the immune system that damages nerve fibers, especially the myelin sheath. The most commonly occurring form of immune mediated polyneuropathy is Guillan-Barré-Syndrome, a disease which causes paralysis of the arms and legs, and which can lead to respiratory paralysis. Another form is chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), which often presents together with HIV infection, diabetes, or hepatitis C. Most patients with immune mediated polyneuropathy require intensive medical care during the acute phase of the disease, and often require years to recover from the paralysis. The effects of neurological diseases were discussed in a presidential symposium at the annual meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS), held during June 2010 in Berlin (Germany).

“Diseases of the nervous system and the brain occur more frequently than cancer. According to recent calculations of health care costs, they represent a burden of 386 billion euros a year on European economies,” said Prof. Gérard Said, M.D., the newly elected president of the ENS. “This is often greatly underestimated.”

Related Links:
World Health Organization
European Brain Council