A new study by the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that out of the 8 billion world population, 3.4 billion people have a neurological condition, Medical News Today reported.
This means that 42.5% of the world’s population has a neurological disorder.
The study, published in the Lancet Neurology, further found that nervous system disorders are the leading cause of disability in people.
The rise in brain diseases has also been linked to an increase in premature deaths, mostly found in third world countries due to limited neurological healthcare facilities.
Since 1990, deaths and disabilities caused by brain disorders has increased by 18%.
The authors have listed top 10 neurological illnesses including stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder and nervous system cancer.
Diabetic neuropathy, which is a type of nerve damage that occurs due to high diabetes is the fastest growing brain illness and has increased three-folds since 1990.
The specific causes of neurological problems vary, but can include genetic disorders, congenital abnormalities or disorders, infections, lifestyle or environmental health problems including malnutrition, and brain injury, spinal cord injury or nerve injury. There are many recognized neurological disorders, some relatively common, but many rare. Mental disorders, on the other hand, are “psychiatric illnesses” or diseases which appear primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling or behavior, producing either distress or impairment of function. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine there are more than 600 neurologic diseases.
Neurological disabilities include a wide range of disorders, such as epilepsy, learning disabilities, neuromuscular disorders, autism, ADD, brain tumors, and cerebral palsy, just to name a few. Some neurological conditions are congenital, emerging before birth. Other conditions may be caused by tumors, degeneration, trauma, infections or structural defects. Regardless of the cause, all neurological disabilities result from damage to the nervous system. Depending on where the damage takes place, determines to what extent communication, vision, hearing, movement and cognition are impacted.
