New research provides concerning statistics regarding the prevalence of Alzheimer's dementia in New York, and one NYC borough in particular was found to have the highest rate of the disease in the country.
In a first-ever look at Alzheimer's prevalence at a county level, researchers found that the Bronx was tied for the highest estimated rates, according to the data published in The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association on Monday.
Using cognitive data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project and population estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics, it was estimated that the prevalence rate for Bronx County was at 16.6%. That figure was tied with Miami-Dade County, in Florida, and Baltimore City, in Maryland, for the highest rate in the U.S.
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As for the rest of the NYC area, Kings County (Brooklyn) had an estimated prevalence of 15%, Manhattan was at 14% and Queens was at 13.7 percent, the study found.
The study examined counties across the country with populations of at least 10,000 people aged 65 or higher. Overall, the highest prevalence of Alzheimer's was found to be in the east and southeastern regions of the U.S., according to the research.
"These new estimates add more granular data to our understanding of Alzheimer’s prevalence across the country,” said Kumar B. Rajan, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College. “This information, in addition to raising awareness of the Alzheimer’s crisis in specific communities, may help public health programs better allocate funding, staffing and other resources for caring for people with Alzheimer’s and all other dementia."
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Not only is the Bronx at the highest prevalence for the disease, but New York overall was found to have the second-highest state level as well, the data showed, at 12.7 percent. Only Maryland had a higher prevalence (12.9%).
Rajan and the other researchers noted that there was a combination of specific demographics that could explain why numbers were higher in certain counties, including older average age and higher percentages of Black and Hispanic residents. The Bronx has a higher percentage of its population age 85 or older (14%, compared to the national average of 12% of people 65 and older), and a much higher portion of its population is Black (30.1%) or Hispanic (46.9%) than the national averages, (9.4% and 8.8%, respectively).
Older Black Americans are about twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's or other dementias as older white and Hispanic populations. Older Hispanic populations are 1.5 times more likely to have Alzheimer's than white Americans, according to the Alzheimer's Association.
About 6.7 million Americans live with Alheimer's, according to the group.
