Fight memory loss: Be healthy, wealthy, and wise

William Atkins
Sunday, 24 February 2008 20:14

Science - Health

A compreshensive U.S. study on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease finds that healthier, wealthier, and better-educated people have less risk of memory loss and dementia.   

The basis of their study was to find out if “recent medical, demographic, and social trends might have an impact on the cognitive health of older adults.”

They compared the frequency of cognitive impairment with respect to dementia (and incidences of mortality) in the United States from the periods of 1993-1995 and 2002-2004.

The researchers used data from two groups of approximately 11,000 individuals from a nationally representative population within the United States in the age bracket of seventy years or older from 1993 and then from 2002.

They found that the 1993 group had cognitive impairment (CI) 12.2 percent of the time, while the 2002 group only had CI 8.7 percent of the time. In both groups, the presence of CI made for a greater risk for mortality during this period of study.

According to the abstract of their paper, their conclusion was: “These findings support the hypothesis of a compression of cognitive morbidity between 1993 and 2004, with fewer older Americans reaching a threshold of significant CI and a more rapid decline to death among those who did. Societal investment in building and maintaining cognitive reserve through formal education in childhood and continued cognitive stimulation during work and leisure in adulthood might help limit the burden of dementia among the growing number of older adults worldwide.”

Thus, the elderly have less risk of memory loss and dementia in the 2000s than they did in the 1990s because they have receive better health care, are wealthier, and are better education.

So, remember to visit your doctor and hop on the bike or take a walk, save and invest your money wisely, and take a class to further your education.

Eric Larson, one of the researchers, stated, “This [study] says to me that we shouldn't just be focused on finding a cure for persons who already have dementia. Rather this suggests that prevention and delay of onset actually can occur."

According to the Houston Chronicle article “New study links falling dementia rates, education”, “More than 5 million Americans are estimated to be living with Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, a progressive and ultimately fatal disease that damages and kills areas of the brain.” and “More than 65,000 Americans died of Alzheimer's in 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Its authors are: Kenneth M. Langa, Eric B. Larson, Jason H. Karlawish, David M. Cutler, Mohammed U. Kabeto, Scott Y. Kim, and Allison B. Rosen. They are from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), or the Center for Health Studies—Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (Seattle, Washington).

Their January 2008 research was published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia under the title “Trends in the prevalence and mortality of cognitive impairment in the United States: Is there evidence of a compression of cognitive morbidity?”