Dementia rates in the United States may be falling, an influential study released Wednesday said, offering hope that some cases of the disease might be delayed or even preventable.
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, appeared to defy fears over an explosion in the disease among the country's aging population.
The new study was based on data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), whose participants were continuously monitored for the occurrence of cognitive decline and dementia since 1975.
Looking at four distinct periods in the late 1970s, late 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, researchers found that there was a progressive decline in incidence of dementia at a given age, with an average reduction of 20 percent per decade since the 1970s, when data was first collected.
The decline was most pronounced with a type of dementia caused by vascular diseases such as stroke.
The researchers noticed that the decline in dementia incidence was limited however to people with high-school education and above.
"Currently, there are no effective treatments to prevent or cure dementia," noted author Sudha Seshadri, professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine.
"Effective prevention could diminish in some measure the projected explosion in the number of persons affected with the disease in the next few decades."
FHS is considered a reliable source of data but the study's authors cautioned that the sample population was overwhelmingly of European ancestry and that further studies were needed to extend the findings to other populations.
Moreover, it does not mean that the number of people with dementia will decrease anytime soon because baby boomers are aging and people are living longer.
By 2025, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease in the US -- Alzheimer's is a type of dementia -- is estimated to hit 7.1 million, a 40-percent increase from the 5.1 million aged 65 and older affected in 2015.
AFP RELAXNEWS
Thu Feb 11 2016
The possible falling rates of dementia cases in the United States, may offer hope that some cases of the disease might be delayed or preventable. - AFPRelax
Penunjuk perasaan pro-Palestin di Paris kepung universiti
Penunjuk perasaan pro-Palestin mengepung bangunan dan kawasan hadpaan Universiti Sciences Po yang berprestij di Paris pada Jumaat.
Piala Thomas: Zii Jia pamer magis tarik perhatian ramai di Chengdu
Zii Jia merekodkan kemenangan ke atas Lee Cheuk Yiu dalam aksi yang mengambil masa 45 minit menghadirkan saat-saat terbaik dalam saingan pembukaan ini.
Youth All Girls raih gangsa di Amerika Syarikat
Pasukan sorak Malaysia Youth All Girls raih gangsa di The 2024 International Cheer Union World Cheerleading Championships (ICU JWCC) di Florida, Amerika Syarikat pada Khamis.
Perkembangan proses penamaan calon PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu
Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) membuka tirai hari ini dengan bermulanya proses penamaan calon pagi tadi di Dewan Serbaguna Dan Kompleks Sukan Daerah Hulu Selangor.
Firdaus Azil ada perincian untuk dikongsikan jam ini.
Firdaus Azil ada perincian untuk dikongsikan jam ini.
Malaysia-China bincang perkukuhkan kerjasama sektor pendidikan
Malaysia dan China membincangkan inisiatif strategik bagi memperluas serta memperkukuh jalinan kerjasama sektor pendidikan tinggi antara Kuala Lumpur-Beijing sempena sambutan ulang tahun ke-50 hubungan diplomatik Malaysia-China.
Perdana Menteri ke Riyadh sempena mesyuarat khas Forum Ekonomi Sedunia
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim akan mengadakan lawatan kerja ke Riyadh, Arab Saudi sempena mesyuarat khas forum sedunia World Economic Forum (WEF) bermula 27 hingga 29 April ini.
Kerajaan Persekutuan kaji cadangan wujud hospital di Pengerang - Azalina
Hospital tersebut akan memudahkan penduduk mendapatkan rawatan memandangkan Pengerang semakin pesat membangun.
AWANI Ringkas: Reformasi gaji di Malaysia
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Piala Thomas: Lee Zii Jia beri mata pertama buat Malaysia!
Kemenangan straight set benarkan Malaysia raih mata pertama dalam aksi peringkat kumpulan saingan Piala Thomas berdepan Hong Kong.
AWANI Pagi: Filem Oppa semai mesej PDRM banteras jenayah scam
Ikuti diskusi bersama Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersial (JSJK) Bukit Aman, Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf akan berkongsi mesej disemai PDRM dalam membanteras jenayah scam yang berleluasa ketika ini.