AA / Istanbul / Asiye Latife Yilmaz
More than 40% of Americans aged 55 and older will have dementia, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, significantly increasing the burden on the population in the decades to come.
The aging of the U.S. population over the past century has led to an increase in the number of end-of-life illnesses; dementia affects more than 6 million Americans today.
In this study, researchers examined the medical records of about 15,000 people for an average of 23 years, using a more diverse dataset than previous dementia studies. Nearly a quarter of the participants were black and more than half were women.
More than four in 10 adults developed dementia in this large, long-term community cohort study, with higher rates among women and black adults.
“Approximately 1 million American adults will develop dementia each year by 2060,” according to the study.
The lifetime risk of developing dementia is 42% for a 55-year-old, and it increases with age. Between the ages of 55 and 75, the average risk is 4%, then it reaches around 20% by the age of 85.
“Dementia is one of the leading causes of disability among older people and causes more than 100,000 deaths per year,” the study also highlights.
It thus highlights the urgent need for policies focused on prevention and promotion of healthy aging, which are essential to reduce the growing and significant burden of dementia for individuals and society.
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