Prevention and early diagnosis, in a disease that still poses many challenges: Alzheimer’s disease. These are the “guidelines” for this year’s World Alzheimer’s Day, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the basis of the newly published New Guidelines on dementia.
The guidance rests on several factors: rising numbers, the inclusion of new risk factors that contribute to onset or worsening of the disease. Italy is also at the forefront in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
The Current Situation
Globally, more than 57 million people live with dementia, about 1.2 million in Italy, according to the latest data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), in the 65 and older age group, and around 24,000 are young-onset dementia cases. At least 600,000 are affected by Alzheimer’s disease alone. The overall costs of care are extremely high, estimated at roughly €23 billion per year, with about 63% of the economic burden borne by families.
Based on the numbers and the evidence, there is a need to design new organizational and management models: Alzheimer’s is indeed a public health priority and a growing challenge as the population ages.
World Alzheimer’s Day 2026: News and Highlights
The WHO has defined new evaluation criteria, rising to 19 compared with 2019. Among the possible triggers of Alzheimer’s disease, air pollution, hearing, vision, sleep, and mood issues have been included. All these factors should be monitored and addressed with protective and preventive measures. The WHO’s warning is clear: assessing the impact of health and lifestyle on this clinical condition should start in childhood and adolescence so that, early on, effective prevention strategies and synergies can be put in place, while also activating early diagnostic tools for onset/control.
The WHO emphasizes that up to 45% of Alzheimer’s cases could be prevented by addressing modifiable risk factors: lifestyle, physical activity, diet, addictive habits such as smoking, management of cardiometabolic conditions, and reducing social isolation.
In line with this, The Lancet Standing Commission’s 2024 dementia report already listed 14 risk factors across different clinical conditions: low level of education, hearing loss, hypertension, high LDL cholesterol, obesity, smoking, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol use, traumatic brain injury, air pollution, social isolation, and untreated visual impairment.
Therefore, the approach to managing Alzheimer’s and dementias must be complementary and integrated across the lifespan, with central involvement of the various healthcare professionals: physicians and nurses and every other role dedicated to prevention and counseling.
Therapeutic Approaches
The arrival and current availability of new drugs that can intervene in the biological mechanisms of the disease, potentially slowing its progression, have changed the treatment landscape, opening a new era in the fight against Alzheimer’s. They are not curative solutions, but represent an important paradigm shift, unimaginable a few years ago. Among the new therapies that are of interest is an antisense oligonucleotide designed to reduce the production of the tau protein: phase 2 studies, based on data from the CELIA study, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), appear to show a 26% slowing of cognitive decline and a 50–65% reduction of tau in the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid).
Unlike the therapies currently available, which target the beta-amyloid protein, this approach acts upstream of the pathological process, blocking the genetic instructions that lead to tau protein synthesis. In the CELIA study, researchers evaluated three different treatment regimens. Phase 3 of the study is now underway, despite the primary endpoint not being met, with the aim of assessing a possible step forward toward new tau-targeted therapeutic targets.
A sine qua non condition, however, is that the disease is detected and recognized in the early stages, when symptoms are still mild and the likelihood of treatment effectiveness is higher. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the network of Centers for Cognitive Disorders and Dementias, promote access to diagnostic biomarkers, and ensure uniform care pathways across the country.
Investments in Italy
The Ministry of Health has allocated €100 million in 2026 for early diagnosis, care, and social protection of dementia patients.
However, in the face of “good intentions,” there are some limits in therapeutic management, among the main ones being reimbursement: the new anti-amyloid antibodies have not been approved by the National Health Service and their use is limited to experimental settings due to modest clinical evidence and associated risks, such as ARIA (Amyloid-Related Imaging Abnormalities), i.e., MRI-detectable changes that can occur after using immunotherapies targeted against amyloid plaques.
Italian Initiatives
AIMA (Italian Alzheimer’s Association) promotes September 21 as a day of free psychological consultations dedicated to families. The 45-minute sessions will be streamed from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., offering family members the opportunity to speak with a professional and share difficulties, questions, and needs related to caregiving.
During the day, four dedicated hotlines will be active to provide listening, information, and support. In Rome, AIMA has organized the evening “Notes of Memory,” in partnership with Sapienza University of Rome and CNR, featuring alternating segments of scientific information and artistic expression.
In Pescara, on September 24, the local health authority organizes an open day dedicated to cognitive decline and dementias, that will run from 9:30 to 13:00 at the Dementia desk (Via Renato Paolini no. 45, Building G, 2nd floor). During the morning, residents can receive information and guidance on prevention pathways, clinical activities, and psychosocial-educational interventions available in the healthcare network, meeting the professionals of the ASL. The event is promoted by the Dementia Network.
Friday, September 25, in Genoa will host the conference “The Continuity of Care for People with Cognitive Impairments,” open to the public starting at 2:30 p.m. The initiative, with the participation of specialists from Area 3 ATS Liguria, offers a multidisciplinary update on dementia care. Seven ECM credits are expected.
The Modena Health Agency, organizes until September 27, across the province: walks, meetings, information points, conferences, performances, and outreach events. These initiatives will involve citizens, professionals, volunteers, and associations to remind that caring for people with dementia is a responsibility of the entire community.
Sources
Livingston G, Huntley J, Liu KY et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet Commissions, 2024, Volume 404, Issue 10452, p572-628. Link: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01296-0/abstract
Abbonati a Karla Miller
