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Study Measures Cognitive Impairment/Dementia in Individuals over 65
My personal experience with dementia: My mother-in-law lived a great life till age 100. She was a grade school teacher with a Master’s degree, a championship bridge player and did the crossword puzzles in ink! But in her last 5 years her short-term memory deteriorated until all was lost. (Thankfully, due to her long-term memory, she still knew all of us.)
I wrote recently about studies documenting that A-Fib leads to or causes dementia. How A-Fib doubles the risk of dementia. And that there’s a direct cause and effect relationship, independently relating A-Fib to cognitive decline and dementia.
In 2021, about 6.2 million U.S. adults aged 65 or older lived with dementia.
Study Measures Cognitive Impairment in Individuals or 65
In a 2016 national study, 3,496 individuals over age 65 completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and informal interview to determine if they had Dementia and/or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition in which people have more memory or thinking problems than other people their age.
This nationally representative cross-sectional study found that approximately one-third of 3496 individuals 65 years and older had dementia or MCI. (10% were classified as having dementia; 22% were classified as having mild cognitive impairment.)
The results were similar to other US-based studies.
Prevalence of Dementia
No differences were found between females and males (though 60% of the participants in the study were female). But prevalance did vary by age, education, and race and ethnicity.
Age Increases Risk of Dementia: Every 5-year increase in age was associated with a higher risk of dementia.
What Decreases Risk? Each year of education was associated with a decrease in risk of dementia and MCI.
Dementia vs. MCI by Race: Dementia was more common among Black individuals, while mild cognitive impairment was more prevalent among Hispanics.
These findings are from the first representative study of cognitive impairment in more than 20 years.
There is Good News
In the U.S., the prevalence of dementia is declining among people over age 65, dropping 3.7 percentage points from 2000 to 2016, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
The age-adjusted prevalence of dementia declined from 12.2 percent of people over age 65 in 2000 to 8.5 percent of people over age 65 in 2016—a nearly one-third drop from the 2000 level.
Editor’s Comments
These are sobering, frightening statistics especially for us as we get older. One-third of those over 65 were found to some form of dementia.
That’s something none of us wants to experience.
How can those with A-Fib reduce their chance of developing Early Onset Dementia? Don’t stay in A-Fib! Do everything you can to become A-Fib free.
Don’t just “manage” your A-Fib. Don’t learn to live with it. Don’t settle for a life on drugs. Seek your cure!
For more reading about Dementia, see: A-Fib and Dementia: My Top 5 Articles
