More than three billion people are living with neurological disorders

Neurological disorders affect 43% of the world’s population, including migraines (Picture: Getty)

Nearly half of the world’s population suffers from neurological disorders, a new study has found. 

A team of international researchers found a significant increase in diseases such as migraines, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and dementia, as well as meningitis, over the past 30 years which caused 11.1 million deaths in 2021. 

The researchers found that disorders of the nervous system affected 43% of the world’s population, which is around 3.4 billion people according to a study published in the Lancet. 

Analysis in the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors study revealed that the total amount of disability, illness and premature death caused by 37 neurological conditions increased by just over 18% from 1990 (375 million) to 2021 (443 million).

The researchers attribute this to ageing and expanding global population, as well as increased exposure to risk factors linked to metabolism, the environment and lifestyle risk factors such as pollution, obesity and diet respectively.

The researchers found that neurological consequences of Covid-19, such as cognitive impairment and Guillain-Barre syndrome, which results in muscle weakness, ranked 20th and equated to 2.48 million years of healthy life lost in 2021. 

Cases of dementia are on the rise (Picture: Getty/Maskot)

But the most prevalent neurological disorders in 2021 were tension-type headaches – around two billion cases – and migraines, with about 1.1 billion cases).

Diabetic neuropathy, nerve damage caused by diabetes, is the fastest-growing of all neurological conditions, the researchers said.

‘The number of people with diabetic neuropathy has more than tripled globally since 1990, rising to 206 million in 2021,’ said co-senior author Dr Liane Ong from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). 

‘This is in line with the increase in the global prevalence of diabetes.’

More than 80% of neurological deaths and health loss happen in low and middle-income countries, which highlights the striking differences in nervous system burden between world regions and national income levels, the researchers said.

‘Nervous system health loss disproportionately impacts many of the poorest countries partly due to the higher prevalence of conditions affecting [newborns] and children under five, especially birth-related complications and infections,’ said co-senior author Dr Tarun Dua.

‘Improved infant survival has led to an increase in long-term disability, while limited access to treatment and rehabilitation services is contributing to the much higher proportion of deaths in these countries.’

However, it’s not all bad news.

The researchers also noted a 93% decrease in tetanus, a 62% reduction in meningitis and a 39% decline in stroke with disability-adjusted life years.

They call for a priortising prevention and say that modifying 18 risk factors could reduce the burden of several neurological conditions, such as controlling blood pressure, which could prevent 84% of stroke disability-adjusted life years.

In the UK, figures from Brain Research UK show one in six people have some form of a neurological condition, with 2.6 million people living with the effects of traumatic brain injury or stroke.

This amounts to one on five deaths and 800,000 hospital admissions being due to a neurological condition.