Dementia: Indian scenario

As per the estimates of the World Health Organization, aging population is increasing in developing countries and dementia is going to become epidemic among elderly in the coming decades. This demands early action to prevent the disease and treatment of the affected persons, which is poorly existent in middle-and low-income countries. The need of the hour to tackle dementia in India is to estimate disease burden in the community, search for risk and protective factors of dementia, and undertake measures to provide social benefits to the sufferers and those who are at risk. Raising awareness among the public and general physicians is an important task ahead. In India, there is lack of good longitudinal studies which can provide true trend of the disease and determine risk factors, paucity of basic and clinical researches on dementia, poor awareness, and inadequate availability of social benefit. India, being a country of diverse ethnicity and cultures, has great advantages to carry out genetic epidemiological study. The information may be useful for undertaking remedial measure. This article will highlight the existing state of the above medical and social issues and deficiencies, so that the stakeholders can make adequate preparation to provide relief to the dementia patients and those who are at risk. It is expected that the medical and scientific community will draw attention to the medical problem with the help of governmental and non-governmental agencies, and the political leadership will be motivated to undertake the issue of providing socioeconomic benefit to families of the victims.