More Than 3 Million Have Dementia In U.S.

(WebMD)  Almost one in seven U.S. adults aged 71 and older -- about 3.4 million people -- have dementia, a new study shows

Most of those elders with dementia -- 2.4 million people -- have Alzheimer's disease, according to Duke University's Brenda Plassman, PhD, and colleagues.

They reviewed data on a nationally representative group of 856 people aged 71 and older, including people in nursing homes.

The elders took tests of mental skills including memory, language, and attention to screen for dementia. They also provided blood samples and noted their depression, medications, medical history, and family history of memory
problems.

The findings:

Almost 14% of the participants had dementia.

About 10% had Alzheimer's disease.

Dementia became more likely with age.

Dementia was more likely for people with a gene glitch linked to Alzheimer's disease, less likely for highly educated people, and equally likely for men and women.

Plassman and colleagues also combined their findings with results from previous dementia and Alzheimer's disease statistics in people as young as 60.

"This resulted in an estimated total of 3.8 million individuals with dementia and just over 2.5 million with Alzheimer's disease in the USA," write the researchers.

They note that the only previous national estimate of dementia prevalence was 2.9 million people with dementia.

As the U.S. population ages, dementia will likely become more common, Plassman's team predicts. However, dementia isn't a normal part of aging.

The dementia statistics study appears online in Neuroepidemiology.



By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2006 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

[feedback3-2009]

Way more.

[neoconrcrazy]

forgotton WMD''s, biological & nuclear weapons, tortue, spying on Americans w/o court order - gee, I wonder if bushit isn''t a prime "candidate"?

[watcher269-2009]

Bush is a perfect example of this! All the irrational decisions he is making - trying to open locked doors - trying to walk off stage the wrong way - Can''t make complete sentences - Sounds like Reagan in his second term - I wonder is Daddy bush is really running things for W? But it''s more like Cheney.

[baileyccc]

Why does dementia plague the United States and is almost unheard of in some countries like India? Our FDA allows food manufacturers to poison our food supply and tells us it is safe. Then they allow ineffective drugs with a poor scorecard to treat this problem. We need a massive overhaul of the FDA.