In a new study, researchers found that dementia mortality in the United States has doubled from 2000 to 2017.
Currently, dementia has become the No.1 health killer in the U.S.
The research was reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dementia includes Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. The disease is a big public health challenge in the United States.
Previous studies have shown that the main symptoms of dementia are memory loss and cognitive decline.
The most common reason for dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Other dementias include Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, and mixed dementias.
The diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are quite complicated.
In the current study, the team examined death certificate data in the 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2000 to 2017.
They found that in 2017, dementia became the primary cause for nearly 262,000 deaths in 2017, and almost one-half of those deaths were caused by Alzheimer’s disease.
The total dementia death rate was 66.7 deaths per 100,000 U.S. standard population. The rate was 30.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2000.
In addition, the death rate increased with age. It was 56.9 deaths per 100,000 among people aged 65–74 and grew to more than 2000 deaths per 100,000 among people aged 85 and over.
The rates were quite steady from 2013 through 2016, but it increased from 2016 to 2017.
The findings suggest that there is a huge increase from 2000 to 2017. It has become a more serious health problem for older people.
The researchers suggest that the higher dementia rate may be due to longer lifespan in the U.S. and the fact that older people occupy a larger percentage of the overall population.
Many people are living to older ages, and those are the ages where the risk of dementia is the highest.
They suggest that if a person doesn’t die due to heart disease or cancer and she or he lives to very old age, the dementia risk is higher.
Because dementia is a progressive brain disease, early detection and intervention are very important.
Older people can do several things to prevent dementia, including sleeping well at night, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, staying socially connected, and using their brain functions.
The lead researcher of the report is Ellen Kramarow, a CDC health statistician.
The study is published in National Vital Statistics Reports.
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