Title:Diabetes/Dementia in Sub-Saharian Africa and Nigerian Women in the
Eye of Storm
Volume: 19
Issue: 2
关键词:
糖尿病，痴呆症，风险因素，LMIC，撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲地区，妇女，卫生政策
摘要: In the next few years, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is projected to dramatically
increase globally, but most of the cases will occur in low-to-middle-income countries. Some
of the major risk factors for diabetes accelerate the development of dementia in African-Americans,
thus leading to a higher prevalence of dementia than Caucasians. Sub-Saharian Africa women
have a disproportionately two-to-eight fold increased prevalence of dementia. In the eye of this
storm, Nigeria holds the highest number of diabetics on the African continent, and its prevalence is
rising in parallel to obesity, hypertension, and the population’s aging. The socio-economic impact
of the rising prevalence of DM and dementia will be huge and unsustainable for the healthcare system
in Nigeria, as has been recognized in developed economies. Here, we analyze the current situation
of women's health in Nigeria and explore future perspectives and directions. The complex interplay
of factors involved in diabetes and dementia in Nigerian women include key biological
agents (metabolic syndrome, vascular damage, inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance),
nutritional habits, lifestyle, and anemia, that worsen with comorbidities. In addition, restricted resources,
lack of visibility, and poor management result in a painful chain that increases the risk and
burden of disease in Nigerian women from youth to old ages. Heath policies to increase the ratio of
mental health professionals per number of patients, mostly in rural areas, foment of proactive primary
care centers, and interventions targeting adolescents and adult women and other specific
mothers-children pairs are strongly required for a sustainable development goal.
