Dementia before Death in Ageing Societies- The Promise of Prevention and the Reality

[Guest guest]

Dementia before Death in Ageing Societies— The Promise of Prevention and the Reality (2006)

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez & artid=1626550

free full text

"Summary of Findings

This 10-y longitudinal population study of people aged 65 y and over at baseline examines dementia and severe cognitive impairment status in the period before death and shows that the prevalence of dementia and severe cognitive impairment in the period before death rises steeply with age. Thus, by the time an individual aged 90 y dies, the risk of being demented or severely cognitively impaired is around 60%. Investigating whether higher education and social class—proxies for healthy exposures and lifestyles—protected individuals from dementia by the time they died showed that individuals with higher education and social class were at significantly reduced risk of dying with dementia or cognitive impairment. However, this reduction was limited: the reduction in dementia had an absolute value of only 2% and 7%, respectively, for higher social class and more highly educated groups; the reduction in cognitive impairment was 7% and 10%, respectively; and both high education and social class together conferred a reduction of 7% for dementia and 10% for cognitive impairment. Thus, the inequalities in healthy lifestyles and social advantage observed at given ages appear to be attenuated by the longer life expectancy of those individuals."

Regards