Between 2000 and 2012, dementia rates for people above the age of 65 dropped from 11.6 percent to 8.8 percent, a decrease of 24 percent. About 21,000 adults participated in the study led by researcher Dr. Kenneth Langa at the University of Michigan.
“This could have huge public health and policy implications,” Langa told Alzforum. He said that although the total number of people with dementia will in fact increase, the expected burden will likely be smaller than expected. According to his findings, there may be as many as 1 million fewer Americans suffering from dementia than was previously anticipated.
“Our study, along with prior studies, supports the notion that ‘cognitive reserve’ resulting from early-life and lifelong education and cognitive stimulation may be a potent strategy for the primary prevention of dementia in both high- and low-income countries around the world,” Langa wrote.
Similar results were found in a study published in the February issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, but that study focused on a smaller and less diverse population.
Dementia is a broad term for memory loss or difficulties with other cognitive functions that can disrupt a person’s typical day. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia that affects more than five million Americans.
“Even if we don’t have breakthrough with a medication or other intervention, it appears there are things we as individuals and as a society can do to decrease dementia risk,” Langa told Alzforum.
The study does not find causation for the decline in dementia, but Langa said to Alzforum that changes in environmental pollution, diet, and education about cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions all could have been contributing factors to this positive trend.
— by David Ney