Perhaps baby boomers can worry just a little bit less about suffering cognitive decline in the coming years. A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia has found that memory loss and thinking problems are becoming less common among older Americans. The reasons for this suggest that you can protect your brain health and prevent cognitive problems as you age.
The study of 11,000 people aged 70 and older found the rate of cognitive impairment (which includes major memory loss and all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease) declined from 12.2 percent to 8.7 percent between 1993 and 2002. The researchers suspect that about 40 percent of that decrease was the result of increased education and personal wealth and better awareness of the risk factors for cognitive impairment, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking.
“From these results, we can say that brain health among older Americans seems to have improved in the decade studied, and that education and wealth may be a big piece of the puzzle,” said lead author Dr. Kenneth Langa, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. "So what we may be seeing here is the accumulated effects of better education and better cardiovascular prevention among the people who were over age 70 in 2002, compared with those who were over age 70 in 1993.”
The Alzheimer’s Association offers a wealth of tips and information for lowering your risk of memory loss. Visit the website and let them help you
Maintain Your Brain.
SOURCES:
Alzheimer’s & Dementia, March 2008; ; National Library of Medicine
45873
06/13/08
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