Organized by the France Alzheimer association, the 24th World Alzheimer’s Day will take place this Thursday, September 21. This year, the Alzheimer’s Village information center will be running for the 5th time in Paris (Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad), from September 21 to 24, 2017. There are currently 900,000 people affected by Alzheimer’s disease, or by a related condition. It is estimated that by 2020, 1.275 million people will be suffering from the disease.
Suicide is the cause of over 800,000 deaths around the world each year according to estimates from the World Health Organization, amounting to one death every 40 seconds. It affects all age groups and all parts of the world[1]. In France, the emergency services handle 220,000 suicide attempts every year[2], and 10,500 individuals take their own lives.
In 2014, Inserm researcher Jean-Philippe Lachaux launched the ATOL (Attentif à l’écOLe or Attention at School) program, which aims to use neuroscientific knowledge to improve children’s attention span in school. A thousand children from 40 classes, spanning the French equivalents of kindergarten to the 7th grade, have now benefited from this program, which is funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR).
In a few days’ time, it will be World MS Day for which the theme this year is “Life with MS”.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. It causes the progressive destruction of the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve cells, which is essential for their protection and for the transmission of nerve impulses, leading to motor, sensory, and cognitive disruption.
Recognized as a rheumatic disease by the WHO in 1992, fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic widespread and persistent pain occurring in multiple areas of the body. This affects functional capacity, which varies over time and from individual to individual.
Let us take this opportunity, on World Lupus Day, to revisit this chronic autoimmune disease, which triggers an inflammatory response directed against affected patients’ own immune systems. One of the forms of the disease, known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), affects several organs of the body: skin, joints, kidneys, nervous system, etc.
On the initiative of WHO, World Vaccination Week is the opportunity to raise public awareness of the vital importance of vaccination throughout life.
The number of children in the world who are not vaccinated or are inadequately vaccinated is 19.4 million, according to WHO.
Each year on the same date, so as to mark the date of its creation, the World Health Organisation alerts politicians and the media to a public health problem. This year it is depression which is in the spotlight. This affects individuals of any age from any country in the world. If depression can be treated, there is still the risk of relapse many years after remission.
On 2 April, World Autism Awareness Day takes place with the aim of raising awareness and better informing the general public on the realities of this development disorder.
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that appears during childhood and continues into adulthood. It presents as an altered ability to establish social interactions and communicate, and as behavioural problems.
France has about 100 young people under 20 who have Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Childhood autism affects about 30,000 of them
According to WHO, tuberculosis is one of the 10 main causes of death in the world. In 2015, 10.4 million people were suffering from this illness and 1.8 million died. Furthermore, tuberculosis is the main cause of death in people who are HIV positive.