China's transition to a first-world economy comes with a price: First-world diseases.

In separate studies, researches found that 2010 Alzheimer's disease rates in China are the highest worldwide, and that hospitalization for heart attacks increased by a factor of four.

Estimates show that there were 9.19 million people with dementia in China in 2010, compared to 3.68 million in 1990, and 5.69 million people with Alzheimer's disease in 2010, compared to 1.93 million in 1990. The rate of hospitalisation for the most serious type of heart attack, ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), more than quadrupled; in 2001, there were an estimated 3.7 hospital admissions for STEMI per 100,000 population, but in 2011 this rate had more than quadrupled to 15.8 hospital admissions for STEMI per 100,000. Both studies were published in The Lancet medical journal.

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The increase in both conditions are straining area hospitals, some of which lack the latest therapies. Although the use of some highly effective treatments for heart attack (aspirin, clopidogrel, and statins) increased over the decade studied, others known to reduce mortality in STEMI patients — such as beta lockers and angiotensin-converting-enzyme-inhibitors — remain very underused. 

The general lack of awareness regarding Alzheimer's and demetia hinders treatment, that study found. Migration of young people to industrial centers means parents and grandparents are left alone in rural areas, and people do not seek medical help for dementia as frequently as they should. Also found was that little training is given for recognition and management of dementia at all levels of the health service. 

Says co-lead author Professor Wei Wang, of Capital Medical University, "Adequate resources should be provided at the national, local, family, and individual levels to tackle this rapidly growing problem, and public awareness campaigns are needed to counteract common misconceptions about dementia — including that it is not very common in the Chinese population, that it is a normal part of ageing, or that it is better not to know about it because nothing can be done about it." 

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