Healthy or wealthy, dementia affects us all the same

Aug 24 2005

According to a UK study, dementia is no respector of wealth or health, and does not appear to be governed by social background or health status.

The results of a study from the Medical Research Council (MRC) has found that that health and wealth does not affect the incidence of dementia in England and Wales.

For the study MRC researchers interviewed and followed 13,000 people from five ethnically uniform sites, ranging from wealthy Cambridge in the east of England to deprived Newcastle in the north.

Carol Brayne, co-author and professor of public health medicine at the University of Cambridge, says that unlike many chronic diseases, the rates of new developments of dementia across England and Wales do not seem to be influenced by factors such as health or wealth.

However Brayne also says this may be because the differences in lifestyle observed between differing social groups in the UK may not be large enough to increase the risk of dementia.

According to the researchers, 163,000 new cases of dementia occur in England and Wales each year.

Between the ages of 75 and 79, dementia will occur in 1 in 70 people per year.

In those over 85,which is the fastest growing group in the UK, this rises to 1 in 15.

A study in the early 90's, the Cognitive Function and Aging (CFA) study of over 65-year-olds, used follow-up interviews to establish rates of dementia, and the researchers say though the data provides a useful tool for planning services, more research is needed to establish if the incidence of dementia is rising or falling.

The study can be found at www.plos.org/journals.