Prof. Martin Prince with Anna Maria Di Brina
by Anna Maria Di Brina
Did you know that in the UK nearly 700,000 people are suffering from Dementia Disease and that this costs the UK £17 billion a year?
This astonishing truth has recently emerged thanks to the research efforts of the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College Hospital, South London. Dr Martin Prince, Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry is one of the directors of the study. He very kindly spoke with Dulwich OnView about this matter.
“The main problem,” he begins “is that dementia is not speedily killing people, but it leads to a huge amount of disabilities and long-term needs for care.”
Prince’s main focus in the last 10 years has been on an original area of research: mental health priorities in developing countries.
The 10/66 Dementia Research Group is his most challenging creature, a network of more than 100 researchers who work worldwide to promote better research into dementia in Low and Middle Income Countries. I’m wondering about the peculiarity of this name….
“There was a very socialist Theatre Group, in the 70s” Professor Prince says, “called 7:84. Its name derived from a survey revealing that in the UK the 7% of the population owned the 84% of wealth. The 10/66 title derives from a similar concept. Only 10% of all population-based research into dementia is directed towards the developing world, where roughly 66% of all people with dementia live. I’ve been interested in issues of equality since my youth.”
Martin Prince wholly corresponds to the image of the perfect gentleman. His voice is low and calm; his manners are composed. He makes me feel relaxed and at ease in the time he found for this meeting in his packed agenda.
How is it possible that dementia, an old people’s disease, affects chiefly the poorer regions of the world?
“It’s a matter of absolute numbers,” explains Prince. “The population in the developing world is huge, and despite the fact that in a country like India only 5% of population are aged over 65, a billion people live there! The problem is moreover dangerously increasing, because of general demographic aging.”
Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and Alzheimer’s type is one of its best known forms. “India, China, Latin America, Africa have a lot of current priorities in terms of health policies, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV,” says Prince. “Dementia is unfortunately not yet recognized as a main concern. We can say that it’s a Cinderella disease. It is indeed a growing problem, especially in terms of costs on health systems. There is a new need for governments of all countries to plan for that.”
Within the scientific society dementia has been claimed as a “new epidemic”. Isn’t it surprising for a chronic disease? In our minds, epidemic belongs to infectious disease.
“It’s absolutely true,” says Prince, “but like cancer or stroke in western countries are yet to be defined as epidemic, dementia is the new threat we’ll deal with. In the next 30-40 years the growth of dementia will be rapid, and much faster in poorer countries. It is expected to double in nearly 20 years.”
What about the differences in risk factors between the rich and the poor?
“It’s fascinating” continues Prince, “because risk factors can be similar but even very different. If they will come out of research as similar, that’s a cause for concern, because they are the same at the origin of cardiovascular disease, as to say smoking, low levels of exercise, obesity. Lifestyle is changing rapidly in developing countries and they are adopting western habits.”
Professor Prince travels a lot, supporting research projects and fundraising worldwide. According to his team-mates, he is “the best in the world. However,” they say jokingly, “the only problem with him is it’s hard meeting him!”
If risks factors are different, his view is it’s interesting all the same. “There is a spice in India, the curcumin, used in curry, that has antioxidant properties. It is supposed that the high level of this spice in the Indian diet can protect against Alzheimer’s disease. If that was established it might lead to some new diet advice for prevention. And prevention is a matter of a healthy lifestyle, both physical and mental.”
Martin Prince kindly doesn’t look at his watch, but I know his time is going to end. His passion for his work is evident but Mia, his Japanese wife, is probably waiting for him for dinner in Blackheath, where they live with their two wonderful dogs.
Let’s ask the last question. What this polite and self-possessed scientist thinks about his namesake, a 10 year old, academically brilliant character of the TV series “The Simpson’s”, that comes up when you key in “Martin Prince” in the Internet? He laughs and answers, in his typical style: “I’ve never been able to google my name!”
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