Annual US Dementia Cases Projected to Rise to 1 Million by 2060 33
By 2060, around one million Americans may develop dementia annually, with the lifetime risk after age 55 estimated at 42% and rising sharply with age. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Medicine. Scientific American reports: The latest forecast suggests a massive and harrowing increase from annual cases predicted for 2020, in which approximately 514,000 adults in the U.S. were estimated to be diagnosed with dementia -- an umbrella term that describes several neurological conditions that affect memory and cognition.
The new study also showed the lifetime risk of dementia increased progressively with older age. They estimated that after age 55, the lifetime risk of dementia is 42 percent, and continues to rise sharply to 56 percent after age 85. Groups that showed greater lifetime risks (between 44 and 59 percent after age 55) were Black adults, women and people who carried the allele APOE e4: this variation of the gene APOE, which codes for the protein apolipoprotein E, increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, but the study focused on all forms.
The new study also showed the lifetime risk of dementia increased progressively with older age. They estimated that after age 55, the lifetime risk of dementia is 42 percent, and continues to rise sharply to 56 percent after age 85. Groups that showed greater lifetime risks (between 44 and 59 percent after age 55) were Black adults, women and people who carried the allele APOE e4: this variation of the gene APOE, which codes for the protein apolipoprotein E, increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, but the study focused on all forms.
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The report's obviously correct. And the one I'm replying to, and the one above it, clearly need institutionalization.
In all honesty (Score:4, Funny)
Every time I read this, I feel purple monkey dishwasher angry peanut.
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I reread your comment, about 10...20 times?, and each time it was new to me.
I started this post to say something important (Score:3)
Re: I started this post to say something important (Score:3)
I'm RoundUp Ready! (Score:2)
So I won't be affected by what it was that was mentioned in the article!!
Alarmist (Score:2)
Even allowing for a falling birthrate. by 2060 the population through immigration will be what, 400,000,000 ?
So you have a 0.25% annual chance of joining the club?
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Even allowing for a falling birthrate. by 2060 the population through immigration will be what, 400,000,000 ?
So you have a 0.25% annual chance of joining the club?
Hey now, cheer up and look on the bright side. Half a century after both studies and litigation proved smoking was actually bad for you, we still manage to kill 480,000 citizens every year with tobacco.
With regards to that 0.25% rate, you’re forgetting the power of human ignorance. We’ll make that statistic exponentially greater by 2060. Rest assured.
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Even allowing for a falling birthrate. by 2060 the population through immigration will be what, 400,000,000 ? So you have a 0.25% annual chance of joining the club?
Per year.
High moron density (Score:1)
The element moron can be found in large quantifies in the United States of Assholes. I doubt we will notice much difference. I blame the leadership.
Nitpicking (Score:5, Insightful)
42 percent at age 55 rising to 56 at 85 doesn't seem like a sharp rise. More like a gentle ramp. We've managed to extend our physical lives tremendously, but our brains weren't really built for it. Those last few decades don't present an evolutionary advantage.
My own family history says my body will fail before my brain. Yay me, I guess... but dementia is dead last on my hoped-for endings, below leprosy and way below alligator encounter.
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Our bodies weren't built for it either -as evidenced by cancer. If nothing else kills you first, cancer will.
Losing your mental faculties is terrifying. My wife's grandmother went thru it. It took about a decade from when she started forgetting things to when she passed. In between she went thru the stages of being unable to care for herself and unable to recognize friends and family.
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What about the rate of dementia in our politicians and CEOs?
Brain rot (Score:3)
"Brain rot" was one of the words of the year in 2024. It's exactly what we're dealing with. Social media turning out brains into mush, letting our unused brain cells to waste away. Instead of using our brains we turned into stalking machines, endlessly scrolling, watching the lives of others instead of actively living our own. And an active, intellectual lifestyle is what we need to combat dementia. Using and retaining our brain density so that it lasts us into the old age.
I have dementia (Score:1)
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Did you vote for Trump? Do you feel a kinship with Trump? I'd say ignoring all the massive character flaws but you probably can't recall all his severe flaws... hell, I can't recall such a long long list - it strains belief that one person could be so bad which is likely a big benefit: proving there is a bottom to how low a person can go; due to limits of human comprehension.
Leaky brain? (Score:2)
Now they're thinking the brain suffers from the same weakness, allowing junk from the blood to enter it. This makes logical sense at least, and offers a mechanism as to why a go
APOE4 (Score:4, Informative)
My mother suffered from early onset Alzheimers disease, and died at 73 from complications due to Alzheimers (though she was completely gone as a person well before that). My sisters and I were all part of the AHEAD study (https://www.aheadstudy.org/) and we all carry the APOE4 gene, but were kicked out because we did not show evidence of amyloid proteins in our head. My sisters continued to get testing privately, but because I have amyloid proteins in my blood, I was admitted to a side study of AHEAD called APEX (https://www.actcinfo.org/alzheimers-plasma-extension-apex-study/). A month ago one of my sisters showed marked decline in cognitive testing, and a subsequent PET scan showed amyloid plaques in her brain. She is 60. They have started her on lacanamab, but from what I read it is a really uncertain treatment, with risks of brain bleeds as a side effect and only the promise of some reduction in the progress of the disease as the best possible outcome.
It's a really scary time.
Ok (Score:3)
So people are living longer and the population is creeping up.
Microplastics (Score:2)
My bet is on microplastics being the cause. The entire planet is contaminated enough that they can't find individuals without detectable levels. Microplastics are able to cross the blood brain barrier. https://ryaninstitute.uri.edu/... [uri.edu]
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How long people with dementia live (Score:3)
It seems that they are saying that the likelihood of an individual getting dementia increases with age. But the methodology suggests that the percentage of people in the population at 55 who will get dementia is lower than the percentage of people in the population at 85.But there are half as many people alive at 85. Which means that the same number of people with dementia will make it twice as likely. So are we seeing an increase in the likelihood an individual will get dementia or simply an increase in how long people with dementia live.
That is not a rhetorical question. I really don't understand what they mean by "risk". If a person who is 55 gets dementia at age 90, their "risk" will double at age 85 because there are half as many people alive at that age?