BRAIN DISORDERS TOP WORLDWIDE DISABILITY LIST  [ back to What's New ]
WHO (the World Health Organization) just published a study showing that the foremost cause of disability from diseases that do not involve infectious or parasitic transmission is brain disorders. In developing countries neuropsychiatric disorders account for just 1.3% of all deaths but generate 11.5% of all disability in the living. In developed countries, where neuropsychiatric disorders cause 25% of all cases of disability, 8 out of the top 10 ten disability causing disorders are brain based. The higher figure in developed countries is attributed in part to greater demands on the brain from more complex laws, regulations and institutions; the stressful time demands of modern life; and requirement of ever faster information processing from computerization and the Internet. Even slight impairment of cognitive or emotional functioning from a brain disorder can significantly limit and interfere with our activities in this densely populated, highly technological and fast paced world.