Study: More People Developing Dementia Earlier, Death Rates Soaring
August 7, 2015 12:33 PM
ATLANTA (CBS News)– More people are developing dementia over the last two decades, and an increasing number of people are dying from it, according to new research.
Researchers found that people are developing dementia a decade earlier than they were 20 years ago, possibly due to factors such as pollution and insecticides, as reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
The study compared data from 21 Western countries between 1989 and 2010 and found that the disease is more commonly diagnosed in people in their late 40s, in addition to climbing death rates.
The research suggest the issue is particularly severe in the United States. Study authors say neurological deaths in men over the age of 75 have nearly tripled, and have risen more than five-fold in women. Scientists partially attribute this rise to environmental factors and widespread use of pesticides, according to the London Times.
Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of cognitive disorders typically characterized by memory impairment, as well as marked difficulty in the domains of language, motor activity, object recognition, and disturbance of executive function, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alzheimer’s disease is considered the most common form of dementia, though several other diseases exist.
Deaths caused by neurological disease have risen in 55- to 74-year-olds and have almost doubled in those over 75 years old, according to the study. Sixty percent of the increase in deaths were due to dementia, with 40 percent of deaths attributed to other neurological disease like Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease.
“The rate of increase in such a short time suggested a silent or even a hidden epidemic, in which environmental factors must play a major part, not just aging,” lead study author Colin Pritchard said.
Other researchers are careful to note that environmental factors are only a possible element of the findings, and in no way proven.
“We can’t conclude that modern life is causing these conditions at a younger age,” Dr. Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, told the paper. “We know that Alzheimer’s and other dementias can have a complex interplay of risk factors.”
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2015/08/07/study-more-people-developing-dementia-earlier-death-rates-soaring/
