A new study says that where you live might increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.Photo:Getty
Getty
Where you live may predict your likelihood of developingAlzheimer’sdisease.
The disease is most prevalent in Miami-Dade County in Florida, Baltimore (which is its own county) in Maryland, and Bronx County in New York, accordingto a new studythat was presented at theAlzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC)in Amsterdam this month.
The study also looked at states and found that California, Florida, and Texas had the highest number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, while Maryland (12.9%), New York (12.7%), and Mississippi (12.5%) had the highest percentage of diagnoses.
More than 70% of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease are 75 years of age or older.Getty
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“Counties/states with more people aged [over] 85 [years] and minorities will have a higher estimate for the prevalence of Alzheimer’s dementia,” Dr. Klodian Dhana, assistant professor in the division of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Rush University Medical Center, toldHealth.
In addition, “Black and Latino adults…along with those of other racial and ethnic minority groups, are more likely to face barriers to diagnosis, care, and services,” the CDC says.
“Our study suggests that Alzheimer’s dementia is differently distributed across the United States,” Dhana toldHealth. “These data may help public health programs to screen older adults for Alzheimer’s and other dementias and provide resources for caring for people with Alzheimer’s.”
TheMayo Clinicestimates that 6.5 million people in the United States (65 and older) have the disease, with more than 70% of those patients being 75 years old and older. The progressive brain disorder is the most common form of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to be the cause of up to 70% of the 55 million people globally with dementia. And although there isn’t a definitive cause for it, theNational Institute on Agingsays it’s a “combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.”
“Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably incapacitates the lives of those who suffer from it,”said Billy Dunn, M.D., director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, “and [it] has devastating effects on their loved ones.”
source: people.com
