A new report released by the World Health Organisation has revealed that approximatel seven million people a year die of neurological disorders.According to the  WHO other conditions from stroke to migraine affect around one billion people worldwide.

The WHO’s new report on neurological disorders reveals that  50 million people worldwide now suffer from epilepsy, and another 24 million from Alzheimer’s.

The WHO has suggested that neurological disorders in ageing populations, particularly in many affluent Western countries  will increase in the future

The report, Neurological disorders: Public Health, said that the economic cost of such diseases in Europe alone was estimated at €139 billion in 2004.

The WHO recommended measures could be taken to reduce the number, including the wearing of helmets by motor-cyclists and seat-belts in motor vehicles to minimise traumatic head injuries. Immunisation against meningitis would also reduce the neurological illnesses which it causes.