[ad_1]
Each person has different reasons for choosing to live where they live. Some prefer the extra space that the suburbs can afford, while others like the excitement and convenience of being in a big city. But a new study has found that where you live can also affect your likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. Read on to see which area residents are most at risk.
RELATED: Drinking Your Coffee Like This May Lower Your Risk for Alzheimer’s, Study Finds.
According to a study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association international conference, a team of researchers set out to better understand how geography was taken into account in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease. Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, they were able to examine trends in Alzheimer’s mortality between 1999 and 2019 and relate them to levels of urbanization.
Over the two-decade period, the team found that the death rate from Alzheimer’s disease in the general population increased dramatically from 16 to 30 deaths per 100,000, representing an increase of 88%. But the results also found that deaths were not evenly distributed across the United States, with rural areas showing higher death rates from Alzheimer’s disease than urban areas.
The results also helped identify the regions of the United States that have been hardest hit by Alzheimer’s-related deaths. The south-central region, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, recorded the highest rate at 274 per 100,000 among those 65 and over. This rate is more than triple that of urban areas in the Mid-Atlantic region, where death rates have been found to be lowest.
“Our work shows that there is a growing gap in Alzheimer’s mortality between urban and rural areas. This gap could be related to, or could be the result of, other urban-rural health disparities, including the access to primary care and other health services, socioeconomic level, time to diagnosis and the growing proportion of older Americans living in these areas ”, Ambar Kulshreshtha, MD, the author of the Emory University study, said in a statement. “Identifying and understanding the reasons for these health disparities is essential for appropriately allocating key social and public health resources. “
RELATED: If You Can’t Hear While Doing This, Your Risk For Dementia Is 91% Higher.
While the discrepancies in Alzheimer’s disease-related death rates between rural and urban areas were startling, the global report also made another shocking achievement. A team of researchers looked at data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study collected between 1999 and 2019 to estimate that the number of dementia cases worldwide is likely to drop to between 130.8 million and 175.6 million globally. over the next three decades. The figures mean a forecast of around 152.8 million cases of dementia by 2050, tripling the 57 million global cases currently observed.
“These estimates will allow policymakers and policymakers to better understand the expected increases in the number of people with dementia and the factors behind these increases in a given geographic setting,” Emma Nichols, the study’s principal investigator from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in a statement. “The predicted large increase in the number of people with dementia underscores the vital need for research focused on finding disease-modifying treatments and effective, low-cost interventions for preventing or delaying the onset of dementia. “
A previous study published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2017 also found a link between rural areas and a higher rate of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. To test their theory, the researchers analyzed data from more than 16,000 adults aged 55 and older who received medical evaluations in 2000 and 2010, reports WebMD.
The results revealed that the rates of dementia in rural areas were seven percent compared to 5.4 percent in urban areas in 2000. And although rates for both groups fell in 2010, rural areas were still seeing. five percent of their population affected by degenerative disease versus 4.4 percent. in urban areas.
“Rural communities are aging faster than urban communities”, Regina Shih, PhD, the lead investigator for the nonprofit Rand Corporation that commissioned the study, said in a statement. “As these communities face more healthcare and long-term care challenges, we hope this research will shed light on the need to intervene on the factors that put rural older people at risk. increased dementia. “
RELATED: If You Drive Like This Could Be an Early Sign of Alzheimer’s Disease, Study Finds.
[ad_2]
Source link