In Spain, more than 20 million people suffer from neurological disorders

The Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) presented at its LXXVI annual meeting a report entitled “Impact of neurological diseases on social health in Spain“. This document, developed in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, offers a comprehensive analysis of the epidemiology, socioeconomic burden, morbidity and mortality, and disability and dependency associated with major pathologies.

“Early this year, a scientific journal Lancet published a report on the impact of neurological diseases on social health in the world, in which they indicated that they are the first cause of disability in the world and the second cause of global mortality,” said Jesús Porta-Etessam, President of SEN. . “They also determined that the global cost of neurological diseases exceeds other medical disorders and that, furthermore, given the progressive increase in life expectancy in the world, current projections for all these figures are that they will increase even more. “” the expert added. This context prompted SEN to carry out “a scientific analysis of the situation in Spain, which serves update of a similar document we made in 2006“,” Porta-Etessam noted.

This report provides estimates based on the most recent prevalence data, which is between 21 and 23 million people in Spain suffer from some kind of neurological disease

. These pathologies affect not only older people, but also young people with diseases of varying severity that significantly affect their health, economy and work life. In addition, the report highlights that, at all stages of life, these diseases are more common in women than in men.

“Neurological diseases are common and sometimes very disabling diseases, such as migraines, multiple sclerosis or epilepsy, or even fatal, like ALS,” he explained. Javier Camina, SEN member. “And given that many of these diseases, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, are associated with aging, due to the population characteristics of our country, an increase in all these pathologies is predicted,” the expert assured. .

The report therefore shows that, in the Spanish context, the prevalence of neurological diseases is 18% higher than the global average and 1.7% higher than other neighboring countries.. This difference is due to the peculiarities of the demographic pyramid of Spain and the high life expectancy in the country.

heavy load

Neurological diseases represent a significant burden that affects the quality of life not only of patients, but also of their families and society as a whole due to the disabilities they cause. It is estimated that in 2021 alone, the number of years lived with disability due to these pathologies was about a million, and The number of years of life lost in Spain has exceeded 500,000.

Regarding the impact of care for neurological diseases in hospital settings, the data reflect increase in hospitalizations. In 2001, patients hospitalized for neurological diseases accounted for 4.2% of the total, and in 2018 this figure increased to 5.5%. This increase is particularly relevant in cases of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Among all neurological pathologies, stroke is the most common cause of hospitalization, ranking third in the number of hospitalizations in the country.

The report also highlights that, in addition to the number of patients, neurological diseases involve a high volume of hospitalization. On average, The length of stay of each patient hospitalized for neurological pathology is 11.8 days.with dementia being the second disease with the longest average length of stay per patient. In addition, it is estimated that between 2,196,000 and 3,928,000 Spaniards will consult a neurologist during the year, meaning that between 5% and 8% of the population will require the care of a neurologist each year.

In addition, neurological diseases responsible for 19% of mortality in our countrywith greater weight among women (23.5%) compared to men (14.5%). “The report also analyzed the progression of mortality from the five leading neurological diseases causing mortality over the past 10 years, and in absolute numbers there was an increase in mortality for all of them, with the exception of stroke, where the improvement in the quality of care and treatment methods developed in recent years ( stroke units, fibrinolysis, thrombectomy) have significantly reduced this mortality rate.“, Kamina commented. “But other pathologies show increasing progression, very striking, for example, in the group of dementia,” he emphasized.

“The report analyzed the progression of mortality from the five main neurological diseases causing mortality over the past 10 years, and in absolute numbers there was an increase in mortality for all of them, except stroke.”

Javier Camina, SEN member

Another indicator of the importance of neurological pathology in terms of mortality is the mortality rate due to euthanasia, data on which are collected from 2021 and indicate that Neurological pathologies were the most common cause among people undergoing euthanasia. (260 deaths in 2022). Of this group, 42% had ALS, 11% had multiple sclerosis, and 8.5% had Parkinson’s disease.

“All these figures show why it is necessary to implement health strategies that help reduce the impact of disease on the population,” Porta-Etessam said. “Prevention programs (for example, vascular health or cognitive health) and population education programs are needed, as well as strategies for early diagnosis of diseases to ensure access to neurological examination and necessary screenings, as well as ways to advance health research. neurological field, to ensure the existence and availability of effective treatments for each of the pathologies,” he concluded.

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