Alzheimer’s disease is something a lot of senior citizens suffer from. Majorly prone to senior citizens, it is important to spread awareness to avoid dangerous consequences. According to recent research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and released on Monday in the organization’s journal. Seniors who reside in the East and Southeast of the country are more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease.
The study provides the first county-level estimations of the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in the US. Researchers assessed demographic risk variables for Alzheimer’s disease. Including age, gender, and race, and plotted those against the demographics of US counties using data from thousands of participants in the Chicago Health and Aging Project.
The Demographics
The highest rates of Alzheimer’s were discovered to be in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Baltimore City, Maryland, Bronx County, New York. Where one in six seniors suffer from the condition, parts of Washington, DC, Hinds County, Mississippi, and the city of New Orleans.
The AAIC discovered that older Black Americans are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s or other dementias than older White Americans. Although age is regarded as the main risk factor for Alzheimer’s. About 1.5 times as often older Hispanic persons as older White people suffer Alzheimer’s disease or another kind of dementia.
The Study
The Study is the first to look at the prevalence of brain degenerative illness by county and came to its conclusions using cognitive data and demographic estimations. Rajan expressed his hope that knowledge of an Alzheimer’s crisis in certain communities will increase awareness of the disease.
The AAIC estimate that 6.7 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s disease. With a prevalence of 15%, Imperial County in California already has the highest number of cases.
“For dementia, a lot of the care and support that is offered — through legislation or programs — often occurs at the state and local level, rather than at the national level,” Amjad said.
With age, there is a large rise in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The survey found that rates of the illness were almost three times higher in those aged 75 to 79 than in those aged 65 to 69. And approximately fifteen times higher in people aged 85 and above.
Senior women had rates that were almost 13% higher than senior men, and senior Black males had rates that were roughly 2.5 times higher than senior White men.
“Half, or even over half, of people who are living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, are undiagnosed,” Amjad said. “Why that happens is complex. Sometimes individuals and families don’t recognize it to be dementia. confusing it with normal aging. And we know that clinicians don’t always ask about it, so it doesn’t come up unless the family brings it up. And clinicians may be reluctant to make and share the diagnosis.”
