Key result
Nervous system disorders cause ~3,037 DALYs per 100,000 population across the Americas.
Why the study?
Noncommunicable and injury-related nervous system disorders are major contributors to morbidity and mortality in the Americas, but comprehensive regional and national assessments remained limited.
Observational
NINSDs impose a substantial burden in the Americas, with a shift from premature mortality to chronic disability driven by neurodegenerative and developmental disorders.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Signals high neurological burden needing chronic care focus; leaves open targeted prevention trials in observational GBD data.
Background Noncommunicable and injury-related nervous system disorders (NINSDs)—including cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, neuromuscular conditions, brain cancers, and traumatic brain injuries—are major contributors to morbidity, disability, and premature mortality in the Americas. However, comprehensive regional and national assessments remain limited. We assessed the burden of NINSDs and their attributable risk factors in the Americas from 1990 to 2023. Methods We analysed prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), for 19 NINSDs by age and sex across 38 countries and territories, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. Temporal trends were assessed using annual percentage change (APC) estimated through log-linear regression. Burden attributable to modifiable risk factors was also examined. Findings In 2023, an estimated 470 million (95% UI 418–523) people in the Americas were living with at least one NINSD. These conditions caused 1·1 million (0·8–1·7) deaths and 37·5 million (27·9–51·8) DALYs, representing 12% of the total burden from noncommunicable diseases in the region. Migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, ischaemic stroke, and intracerebral haemorrhage were the leading contributors to DALYs. From 1990 to 2023, age-standardised DALY rates declined for ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, and neural tube defects, but increased for neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis and motor neuron diseases. High systolic blood pressure was the leading risk factor for stroke subtypes, high fasting plasma glucose for dementias, and lead exposure accounted for nearly 60% of DALYs from idiopathic intellectual disability. Interpretation NINSDs impose a substantial and persistent burden in the Americas, with disability increasingly outweighing premature mortality. Strengthening prevention of modifiable risk factors, integrating neurological health into noncommunicable disease strategies, and expanding long-term care, rehabilitation, and disability support are essential to address this growing challenge.
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Martínez et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Noncommunicable and injury-related nervous system disorders. Noncommunicable and injury-related nervous system disorders was evaluated on Age-standardised DALY rate per 100,000 population in 2023 (95% CI 2249.48-4193.39). In 2023, noncommunicable and injury-related nervous system disorders caused an age-standardised rate of 3036.7 DALYs per 100,000 population in the Americas.
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