ABSTRACT
Dementia is a global phenomenon that is thought to affect millions of individuals worldwide. This chapter discusses dementia the related costs in both low-middle income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries. It discusses the dementia journey and how it impacts the individual, and reviews the associated risk factors that can increase the likelihood of developing dementia. It is expected that LMICs will suffer the brunt of population growth, as currently 60% of all individuals with dementia worldwide are thought to live in countries such as the Netherlands, Scandinavia, USA. As LMICs also have limited resources, there is less access to education and specialist healthcare, higher levels of smoking and alcohol use and overall reduced awareness of public health. Dementia poses a great burden on health and social care systems worldwide. Prevention of dementia is currently the only feasible approach to reduce growth in numbers of cases.
