Why Dementia Rates May Be Slowing Down

The older we get, the more memories we lose and the more scrambled some of our thoughts become. Some experts believe that such decline in our cognitive abilities is unavoidable if we live long enough.

But in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers question that theory. Working with data from the long-running Framingham Heart Study—which began in the 1940s and continues to follow the original group, as well as their children and their children’s children—scientists say that rates of dementia may actually be decreasing rather than climbing. Dementia refers to the overall drop in cognitive function and encompasses a number of disorders, including Alzheimer’s . . .

That makes sense, say Seshadri, since dementia is connected to problems in circulation, and the Framingham Heart Study looks at risk factors for heart disease, which include circulation-related factors such as blood pressure and stroke.

It’s possible that lifestyle factors such as physical activity and diet, as well as taking care of heart disease risk factors like hypertension, may all contribute to preventing dementia. Stroke is also a big risk factor for dementia, and keeping the circulatory system and heart healthy can lower stroke risk as well. Understanding that lifestyle factors may play a role in preventing dementia could be critical in reversing the upward curve of dementia rates that most studies are predicting in coming years. The World Health Organization says that 47.5 million people currently live with dementia, and by 2050, 135.5 million could suffer from its effects. (Read more from “Why Dementia Rates May Be Slowing Down” HERE)

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