stock imageandrew brookesgetty images the study predicts dementia rates will rise at different rates around the world unless countries act swiftly to address dementia risk factors global cases of dementia may triple by 2050 according to a new study published thursday in the lancet dr siobhan deshauer is an internal medicine specialist and rheumatology fellow at mcmaster university canada and a member of the abc news medical unit highincome asia pacific countries are expected to have the smallest increase while eastern subsaharan african countries are expected to have the greatest increase a new mathematical model used for the study estimates that the global prevalence of dementia could nearly triple by 2050 from 57 million to 153 million with cases in the us increasing from 52 million to 105 million in addition they did not distinguish between the different subtypes of dementia such as vascular dementia and alzheimers dementia which may have different risk factors abc news dr alexis carrington contributed to this report many risk factors have been linked to dementia but researchers focused on four predictive risk factors that can be improved obesity smoking high blood sugar and low education it contributes to significant disability in older people with associated costs globally reaching 1 trillion us in 2019 the who reported for example there is a lack of highquality data from several parts of the world more plantbased diets reduce risk of heart disease dementia study finds this predictive study does have its limitations as outlined by the authors our study offers improved forecasts for dementia on a global scale as well as the countrylevel giving policy makers and public health experts new insights to understand the drivers of these increases based on the best available data lead author emma nichols from the institute for health metrics and evaluation at the university of washington said in a statement more dementia alzheimers not an inevitable part of aging study dementia is currently the seventhleading cause of death worldwide according to the world health organization a doctor examines brain scans in an undated stock image low and middleincome countries in particular should implement national policies now that can mitigate dementia risk factors for the future such as prioritising education and healthy lifestyles coauthor professor theo vos from ihme university of washington said in a statement while there are higher rates of dementia in older individuals it should not be viewed as a normal part of aging