1. Angelini Pharma
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  4. The importance of brain health

The importance of brain health

The importance of brain health
  • Published: 11 Mar 2025

Brain health is a critical pillar of overall wellbeing, essential for unlocking human potential and ensuring a good quality of life. With the global burden of brain disorders on the rise, protecting brain health has become an urgent priority. Protecting brain health is not only essential for individual quality of life but also for society, as brain health is essential for optimal cognitive performance. By promoting healthy lifestyles, early diagnosis, and integrated multidisciplinary care, together we can mitigate these challenges.

 

What is Brain Health?

Brain health is defined by WHO as a state of the brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains, allowing a person to realise their full potential over the life course, irrespective of the presence pr absence of disorders.1 Brain health includes both neurological and mental health.2

The Urgency of Brain Health

By 2030, brain health diseases will be responsible for over 13 million deaths annually worldwide, making it an urgent global issue.3 Neurological conditions are the leading cause of disability globally affecting 3.4 billion people worldwide,4 with another almost 1 billion people globally estimated to suffer from a mental disorder.5   This constitutes a  significant economic burden, costing the global economy  an estimated $2.5 trillion a year.6 This is why early diagnosis, effective treatments and access to integrated care are vital to reduce both human and economic costs.

 

Lifestyle and Biological Factors

There are a series of lifestyle and biological factors that play a role in preventing or contributing to mitigate the progression of brain disorders. Adequate nutrition7, exercise8, sleep9 and social engagement10,11all play a part in maintaining good brain health. 

As we said, brain health is deeply connected to our physical health, making the need for a multidisciplinary approach vital in maintaining both. Poor brain health can negatively affect physical health contributing to other conditions and vice versa.  Therefore, an integrated multidisciplinary approach to care and a focus on the key components of brain health, ensuring both brain and physical health conditions are considered12,13, have the potential to mitigate both psychological and physical impacts of disease and improve patients’ quality of life14,15.

Angelini Pharma’s commitment and internal initiatives

With over 50 years of experience in research and development, Angelini Pharma is actively advancing brain health through an innovative therapeutic pipeline and targeted investments in the discovery of new molecules, leading to the preclinical and clinical development of novel pharmaceutical products.

Angelini Pharma collaborates with international and regional scientific societies, as well as patient advocacy groups, to raise awareness and promote research in brain health. Through initiatives such as Headway, the company facilitates dialogue among experts and key stakeholders, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing to drive progress in brain health. Additionally, it works to enhance awareness among healthcare professionals and the public, ensuring that brain health becomes a shared priority.16

Brain Health is an urgent global health priority both for individuals and society. This is why it is of the greatest importance that we continue to support ongoing efforts to raise awareness and to improve our own brain health through healthy lifestyle choices.

 

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  3. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Brain Health Atlas Version: 1.5.3 (e8982e6). Available from: https://brainhealthatlas.org/data?chart_type=line Accessed 1 June 2024.
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  16. Angelini Pharma. Available at: https://www.angelinipharma.com/our-responsibility/projects/headway/ - Accessed June 2024.
  17. Wang Y, et al. Brit Med J 2020;371;m3683.
  18. Https://www.who.int/health-topics/brain-health#tab=tab_1
  19. World Health Organization. Optimizing brain health across the life course: WHO position paper. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022.
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