WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new international study finds that the risk of dementia is going down in newer generations of older adults.
'Younger generations are less likely to develop dementia at the same age as their parents or grandparents, and that's a hopeful sign,' said Dr Sabrina Lenzen, a co-author of the study.
Led by economist Xiaoxue Dou from the University of Queensland in Australia, the researchers looked at health survey data from the U.S., Europe, and England. The study focused on people aged 71 and older and compared dementia rates among different age groups.
They used only the information that was available in all the surveys to estimate who had dementia, making sure their analysis was consistent.
The results showed that younger groups of older adults, those who recently turned 71, had lower rates of dementia compared to older generations. Specifically, 21.2 percent had dementia in the U.S. study, 38.9 percent in the European study, and 28.3 percent in the English study.
'Birth cohorts born more recently were less likely to develop dementia in all three regions, albeit at different rates,' the authors noted. 'This decreasing trend was more pronounced among women than men.'
However, the researchers warned that the findings may not reflect minority populations accurately. Still, the study suggests that although more people will live longer and thus the total number of dementia cases may grow, the percentage of older adults affected might actually be shrinking in recent generations.
The researchers expect that this decline could have a big impact on how we plan for health care, long-term support, and staffing as populations age.
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