Alzheimer's cases will quadruple to 1.7m in 40 years

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By 2050 there will be 1.7million with the disease, half of whom will need high-level care.

At present there are 700,000 with dementia in Britain, around half of whom have Alzheimer's. Around 60,000 die of dementia every year.

Experts warned of a "global epidemic" of Alzheimer's, with the estimated 26 million worldwide living with the condition growing to more than 106 million by 2020.

The U.S. research was presented at an international conference on the prevention of dementia being held in Washington.

"We face a looming global epidemic of Alzheimer's disease as the world's population ages," said lead author Professor Ron Brookmeyer, from the Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland.

"By 2050, one in 85 persons worldwide will have Alzheimer's disease.

"If we can make even modest advances in preventing the disease or delaying its progression, we could have a huge global public health impact."

The biggest rise in cases will come in Asia, where 48 per cent of sufferers currently live.

The total there will grow from 12.6million last year to 62.8 million in 2050 (59 per cent of the world's cases), the study said.

The predictions came as other experts unveiled a test that can predict a person's risk of getting dementia in the next six years.

It combines medical history, cognitive function and a physical examination and is 87 per cent accurate, according to experts at San Francisco VA Medical Centre in California.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the UK's Alzheimer's Society, said tools to predict dementia were important but warned: "Any risk model should be used alongside guidance on how people can reduce their chances of developing dementia."

He said the Maryland research painted a stark picture and added: "We cannot afford to ignore the challenge of the disease.

"The Alzheimer's Society's recent Dementia UK report put the cost of the condition to this country at £17 billion a year.

"A national dementia strategy must consider the global scale of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia."