Nearly seven million people a year are dying of neurological disorders, and conditions from stroke to migraine affect one billion, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The WHO’s new report on such disorders says 50 million people worldwide now suffer from epilepsy, and another 24 million from Alzheimer’s disease.

The WHO warned that the ageing of populations, particularly noticeable in many affluent Western countries, will increase the incidence of neurological disorders.

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.