There is a new study that tells us where Alzheimer’s disease is most common in the United States.
It turns out that the East and Southeast parts of the country have the most people with this type of memory loss.
The researchers think this might be because there are more older people and Black and Hispanic people living there.
The study looked at all the 3,142 counties in the U.S.
What The Study Found
Kumar Rajan is a professor of internal medicine at Rush Medical College in Chicago. He said that these new estimates give us a clearer picture of where Alzheimer’s is most common across the country.
This can help raise awareness of the problem in certain areas. It can also help public health programs decide where to put their money, staff, and resources for taking care of people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
The researchers used data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project and the U.S. government’s population estimates.
Alzheimer’s Hotspots
The places with the highest rates of Alzheimer’s were Miami-Dade County in Florida, Baltimore City in Maryland, and Bronx County in New York. Each of these places had 16.6% of their seniors with Alzheimer’s.
Other places with high rates were Prince George’s County in Maryland (16.1%), Hinds County in Mississippi (15.5%), Orleans Parish in Louisiana (15.4%), Dougherty County in Georgia (15.3%), Orangeburg County in California (15.2%), and Imperial County in California and El Paso County in Texas (both at 15%).
Who’s At Risk?
Age is a big factor for Alzheimer’s. Older Black Americans are about twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia as older white Americans.
Older Hispanic adults are about 1.5 times as likely to get these diseases as older white people, according to the study authors.
Rajan explains that Alzheimer’s is a complex disease. It’s not just about one factor. It involves many risk factors that interact with who you are (like your age and race) to determine your likelihood of getting the disease.
The Impact Of Alzheimer’s
About 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. The West and Southwest are predicted to see the biggest rise in Alzheimer’s between 2020 and 2025.
Matthew Baumgart is the vice president of health policy for the Alzheimer’s Association. He said that knowing how common Alzheimer’s is can help health officials understand the strain on the healthcare system.
It can also help pinpoint areas where there’s a high need for things like health support and caregiver training that are sensitive to different cultures.
As more people get Alzheimer’s, there’s a bigger need for a workforce that’s trained to diagnose, treat, and care for them.
The researchers shared their findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At the same time, they published their work in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the root cause of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s, and 5 steps to protect against Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that herb rosemary could help fight COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease, and results showing this stuff in mouth may help prevent Alzheimer’s.
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