How high is your risk of dementia? It might depend on where you live, according to a new study of U.S. veterans.
A team at U.C. San Francisco said Monday that it had identified the regions where the chronic brain disorder occurs most often. Using the Mid-Atlantic region as the baseline for comparison, where dementia incidence rates were the lowest, they found that dementia was 25 percent higher in the Southeast. That included Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Whereas, the Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions were both 23 percent higher.
Other regions included in the study – one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind – were the South and Southwest, which were 18 and 13 percent higher, respectively. California was included in the Southwest.
The Northeast incidence rates were still higher than the Mid-Atlantic, but just by 7 percent.
“The study underscores the need to understand regional differences in dementia and the importance of region-specific prevention and intervention efforts,” UCSF Director of the Center for Population Brain Health Dr. Kristine Yaffe said in a statement.
Yaffe was the senior author of the study, which was published in the journal JAMA Neurology.
The study included the health records from more than 1.2 million veterans, noting that veterans have a higher prevalence of risk factors such as traumatic brain injuries, depression, and post-traumatic stress.
The researchers found that the differences remained when they accounted for certain factors, including age, race, and cardiovascular disease.
They noted that access to medical care may be more difficult in rural areas, compared with urban areas. Previous research has found higher rates of dementia in rural communities.
Recently, other UCSF researchers found that proteins in spinal fluid may be the key to understanding why middle-aged people develop dementia.
The onset of dementia is known to be tied to depression, but different types have their own causes. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, impacting some 6.7 million Americans. Cases are estimated to double by the year 2060. There is currently no cure.
The next step for these researchers is to investigate what the factors driving these differences are. They said they hoped that, by identifying areas with the highest incidence rates, resources can be better allocated and targeted interventions designed to mitigate the impact of dementia on vulnerable populations.
“Quality of education, early life conditions, and environmental exposures may be among those factors,” said first author Dr. Christina Dintica.
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