Neurological Disorders

Neurological disorders are conditions that affect the central and peripheral nervous systems, including the brain,spinal cord, nerves and related structures. They encompass a wide range of conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, migraine and other headache disorders, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, neuroinfections, neuromuscular disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.[1] Neurological disorders can affect movement, sensation, cognition, memory, communication and other essential functions and are an important cause of long-term disability and premature mortality.[1]

Global Impact

Neurological conditions are the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. In 2021, neurological conditions affected approximately 3.4 billion people, or 43% of the global population, and were responsible for around 11.1 million deaths.[2]
The major contributors to neurological health loss globally include stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, dementia, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis and epilepsy.[2]

Impact in India

Neurological disorders contribute substantially to disease and disability in India. Their contribution to the total disease burden increased from 8.3% of all DALYs in 1990 to 9.9% in 2019.[3]

In 2019, the leading contributors to neurological disease burden in India were stroke (37.9%), headache disorders (17.5%) and epilepsy (11.3%). An estimated 488 million people had headache disorders and 10.1 million had epilepsy in India in 2019.[3]

Major Neurological Disorders

i. Migraine and Other Headache Disorders: Characterized by recurrent headaches that can cause significant pain and disability. Migraine is one of the leading contributors to neurological disability worldwide.[2,4]

ii. Epilepsy: A chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain.[1]

iii. Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias: Progressive disorders that affect memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities.[1]

iv. Parkinson’s Disease: A progressive neurological disorder primarily affecting movement and commonly causing tremor, stiffness, slowed movement and problems with balance.[1]

v. Multiple Sclerosis: A chronic disease in which the immune system damages structures within the central nervous system, potentially affecting movement, sensation, vision and other neurological functions.[1]

vi. Neuromuscular Disorders: Conditions affecting the nerves and muscles, including peripheral neuropathies, muscular dystrophies, motor neuron diseases and myasthenia gravis.[1]

vii. Neuroinfectious Disorders: Infections affecting the nervous system, including meningitis, encephalitis, neurocysticercosis and other infections of the brain and nervous system.[1]

viii. Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries: Injuries to the brain or spinal cord that can result in temporary or permanent impairment of movement, sensation, cognition and other functions.[1]

Risk Factors

Risk factors vary between neurological disorders but commonly include high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood glucose, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, air pollution, infections, head and spinal injuries, genetic factors and increasing age.[2,3]


Prevention and Management

A substantial proportion of neurological disease burden can be prevented or reduced by addressing modifiable risk factors. Controlling high blood pressure and diabetes, avoiding tobacco and harmful alcohol use, maintaining a healthy diet and regular physical activity, preventing infections and reducing the risk of injuries can help protect neurological health.[2,3]

Management depends on the specific disorder and may include medicines, surgery, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, psychological support and long-term multidisciplinary care.[1,2]

Early diagnosis, access to appropriate treatment and rehabilitation, and continued support for affected individuals and their caregivers are important for reducing disability and improving quality of life.[2]

DEMENTIA

Dementia is a syndrome resulting from a number of diseases that progressively damage the brain, leading to deterioration in cognitive functions such as memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, learning and judgement beyond what is expected from normal ageing. It can also affect a person and mood, behaviour and ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases. Dementia primarily affects older people, although it is not an inevitable consequence of ageing.[5]

Latest WHO Guidelines on Dementia Risk Reduction:

In 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the second edition of its Guidelines on Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia, updating its 2019 recommendations. The guideline adopts a life-course approach and emphasizes addressing modifiable risk factors, including physical inactivity, tobacco and harmful alcohol use, unhealthy diet, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, hearing loss, social isolation and air pollution. WHO reports that addressing potentially modifiable risk factors could prevent or delay up to 45% of dementia cases, highlighting the importance of integrating dementia risk reduction into broader noncommunicable disease prevention and healthy ageing strategies.[6]

References

1. World Health Organization. Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022–2031. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Available from:
iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/a5fa2e1e-f2ce-4c54-94df-2676ffc90d66/content

2. World Health Organization. Global status report on neurology. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025 Oct 12. Available from: Global status report on neurology

3. India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Neurological Disorders Collaborators. The burden of neurological disorders across the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2019. Lancet Glob Health. 2021;9(8):e1129–e1144. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34273302/

4. World Health Organization. Migraine and other headache disorders. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025 Oct 24. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/headache-disorders

5. World Health Organization. Dementia [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026 [cited 2026 Sep 22]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia

6. World Health Organization. Risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia: WHO guidelines. 2nd ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026. Available from: https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/ea44b7f6-b09f-4e6f-b8c7-2e5b0fcc9a99/content