Research indicates that recently born people are less likely to develop dementia at any age of previous generations.
According to the World Health Organization, in 2021 there were 57 million people all over the world living with dementia, with women being impatiently affected. However, while the danger of dementia with age, experts have long emphasized this not. It is not the inevitability of the elderly.
“Young generations are less likely to develop dementia at the same age of their parents or grandparents, and this is an optimistic sign,” said Dr. Sabrina Linzen, the author, the participating, from the study of the Queensland University Center for Business and Economics. health.
But she added: “The general burden of dementia will continue to grow with the aging population, and great inequality remains – especially through sex, education and geography.”
Writing in the magazine Jama open networkAustralia researchers reported how data is analyzed from 62,437 people between the ages of 70 years or more, collected from three long -term polls covering the United States, England and parts of Europe.
The team used an algorithm that took into account the responses of the participants to a group of different metrics, from the difficulties they faced with daily activities to their degrees in cognitive tests, to determine whether they may have dementia.
Then they divided the participants into eight different groups, representing different generations. Participants were also divided into six age groups.
As expected, the researchers found that the spread of dementia increased by age among all birth groups, and in each of the three regions: the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe. However, at a certain age, people in the most modern generations were less likely to be dementia compared to those in previous generations.
“For example, in the United States, among people between the ages of 81 and 85, 25.1 % of those born between 1890-1913 suffer from dementia, compared to 15.5 % of born between 1939-1943,” adding Linzin in similar directions in Europe and England, although it is less clear in the latter.
The team said that this trend was more clear in women, especially in Europe and England, noting that access to education for women may be increased in the middle of the twentieth century.
However, taking into account the changes in the gross domestic product, a measure that reflects broader economic transformations, did not significantly change the results.
Professor Tara, Pires-Jones, Director of the brain science center at Edinburgh University, described the well-developed study. She said: “The number of people suffering from dementia is still increasing due to the aging of the population, but this study adds to good news that the most modern generations have the risk of decrease compared to past generations.”
While the study was not achieved in the causes of the decline, Pires-Jones noticed that a number of factors could be in play. She said: “This is likely to be due to interventions such as compulsory education, smoking prohibition, and improvements in medical treatments for conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and hearing loss, which are associated with dementia.”
Pires-Jones added that the study had restrictions, including that it did not rely on the official diagnoses of dementia based on clinical tests.
Professor Tom Ding, from the University of Nottingham, said that the study contains good news, but it should not be assumed that the trend will continue, given some of the biggest health changes to reduce the risk of dementia.
Professor Eric Boner, from the University of College London, said it is important to look closely at modern directions and policy impact such as austerity, given other studies – Including his own work Regarding England and Wales – dementia cases have suggested, in other words, the rate of new cases may not be less.
David Thomas, head of politics and public affairs in Alzheimer’s research in the United Kingdom, said the evidence indicates that nearly half of the dementia can be prevented or delayed by treating 14 main risk factors – from smoking to air quality – although not all of them were within the control of individuals.
He said: “For this reason, the UK’s Alzheimer’s disease research calls for a strategy to prevent health prerogative, including treating dementia.”
