Dementia cases loom in Nigeria with increasing longevity, experts says

In the next 25 years, the greatest number of people who are over 60 years old will be residents of Africa, and a large number of people will have dementia, a brain disorder affecting memory, thinking, and the ability to perform daily activities, an expert has said.

Dr Temitope Farombi, a neurologist, stated this at the inauguration of the Ibadan community advisory board for the Recruitment and Retention of Alzheimer’s Disease Diversity Genetic Cohorts—Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (READO-ADSP), at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Farombi, the project’s community engagement leader, stated that although dementia is not a disease due to ageing but occurs more with age, studies are commencing in nine centres across Nigeria and eight other African countries under the READO-ADSP project to better understand the disease and to better take care of people with the condition.

She declared, “Some people are more predisposed to dementia, but we don’t know its exact cause. But the study is very important because it will help us to understand the total makeup of people of African ancestry and to look at the treatment that works for us.

“The clinicians will just give us advice, but this time around in the study, we are putting the community members forward to be able to lead the research, to be able to change how people see dementia, understand the view of people living with dementia, and also use the opportunity to advocate for better care for persons living with dementia and their carers.

“We are looking at years down the line; we know that as population age increases, so does the condition. So the essence is to at least go a little step ahead of people to understand before that time comes, so that we can better take care of persons who then develop dementia at the time or to be able to mitigate the effects of the disease when the time arises.”

Professor Oyedunni Arulogun, African Community Engagement Leader for READO-ADSP, said dementia is common, but most people don’t know the entity, and a lot of stigma goes with it in the community. Thus, it is important for the community members to create awareness about dementia and that people living with dementia are not witches and wizards, nor difficult people, but can be treated and live a more fulfilled life.

Earlier, Mrs Mayowa Ogunronbi, the project’s manager, had stated that the goal of the five-year project is to build a resource that can greatly expand the representation of currently underrepresented African ancestry in Alzheimer disease genetic studies.