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Risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease ‘doubles’ based on where you live in the US
Geography counts for a lot. The percentage of people who receive a new dementia diagnosis every year varies hugely across the different parts of the US. This comes even after taking into account common risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco and alcohol use, and various socio-economic differences.
Neighborhood stress factors have also been linked to an increased risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. In the present case, however, compared to the national average, researchers found that people living in certain regions of the US are 28% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia. Meanwhile, others are 36% more likely to receive a diagnosis. They came across this disparity even after controlling for factors like age, ethnicity, education, history of smoking, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular health, and pre-existing chronic diseases.
You could be twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia in certain states
The general concentration of diagnosed dementia cases was highest in the southern states of the US, according to a recent national study published by the Journal of the Alzheimers Association.
Theres a comparable trend when it comes to stroke, too. The so-called stroke belt sees the highest concentrations of stroke and cardiovascular disease. Its an 11-state region consisting of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
However, when the scientists took into account other internal and external factors, the South was no longer a uniform hotbed of dementia diagnosis, reports Michigan Medicine.
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According to the data, the specific area with the fewest dementia diagnoses per person was Minot North, North Dakota. The place with the most was Wichita Falls, Texas. However, the largest variability in diagnosis intensity was among the youngest cohort studied (aged 66-74), black, and Hispanic groups.
In other words, these are the portions of the population to whom a consistent logic of who should or should not be developing a neurodegenerative disease applies the least.
Which parts of the US had the most and least new dementia diagnoses?
After controlling for other factors, the states that appear to have seen the most new diagnoses for dementia include Texas, Alaska, Montana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. But the prevalence of Alzheimer’s and related dementias in these states is by no means uniform.
The states with the fewest new dementia cases during the study period included California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
Among the key takeaways was that the likelihood of being diagnosed with Alzheimers disease and related dementias was twice as high in some areas, compared with others. Or half as much in some areas, compared with others, depending on how you look at it. Either way, it’s a two-fold variation.
The studys lead author Julie Bynum, who works in geriatric and palliative medicine at the University of Michigan, took the opportunity to call on communities and health systems to spread knowledge and increase efforts to make services available to people.
And for individuals, the message is that you may need to advocate for yourself to get what you need, including cognitive checks.
