Dementia Rate in U.S. Falls 24% over Past 12 Years

ProfLeRoy steps out of its comfort zone to summarize an important health story in the New York Times.

A new study finds that the dementia rate in Americans 65 and older fell by 24 percent over 12 years— a trend that is “statistically significant and impressive,” according to a UPenn professor, Samuel Preston.

The average age of diagnosis is now 82.4.

“The dementia rate is not immutable,” said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging. “It can change.”

Other key facts and findings:

Dementia is the most expensive disease in America — a study funded by the National Institute on Aging estimated that in 2010 it cost up to $215 billion a year to care for dementia patients, surpassing heart disease ($102 billion) and cancer ($77 billion).

The study, published online Monday by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, included 21,000 Americans 65 and older across all races, education and income levels, who participate in the Health and Retirement Study, which regularly surveys people and follows them as they age.

Although a larger number of older people today have high levels of blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol— all of which increase the risk of dementia—education is strongly linked in reducing dementia. The role is not understood but may relate to mental stimulation that is associated with being college educated (“people with more education have brains that are better able to compensate for dementia damage).

My Conclusion: The benefits of college education are usually measured in terms of employment and earnings—but add in health benefits, and I ask, “Is there a better alternative?”