Vietnam, ranking seventh among the 10 fastest aging countries, is facing an upward trend of chronic diseases, including dementia.

Director of the Central Geriatrics Hospital Pham Thang pointed out the fact at a symposium on the diagnosis and treatment of dementia in Hanoi on August 14.

Vietnamese and foreign experts cited statistics of the World Health Organisation in 2012 as saying that there were 35.6 million people living with dementia around the world, and up to 50 – 70 percent of them were suffered from Alzheimer’s.

The number of dementia cases is predicted to hit 65.7 million by 2030 with 58 percent living in low- and middle-income countries, and reach 115.4 million and 70 percent, respectively by 2050.

The life quality of those having Alzheimer’s is relatively low and proportional to the state of the disease, delegates noted.

At the symposium, experts assessed the recovery of the cases while being under different therapies and suggested the use of non-medicine ones.

They also stressed the need to monitor patients’ life quality and consider this as an important criterion when assessing treatment outcome.-VNA