Study finds Latinos Have High Risk for Dementia

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Among racial groups, including Latinos, the risk for being diagnosed is significantly high. A new study from Northern California Kaiser Permanente tracked more than 274,000 of its members over 14 years. This is the largest and longest study ever conducted of this kind. Latinos were the third highest group of reported incidences and were significantly higher than whites.

“It’s telling there are these large differences in people who have equal access to care,” said Rachel Whitmer, principal investigator of the study and a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente. “The next big question is ‘why.’ If we can study the lowest-risk groups and the highest-risk groups … we will come away with information that will help everybody.”

According to the study, achieving higher levels of education help reduce the risk for dementia. The Latino group recorded for the study was primarily comprised of Mexican Americans.

Participants in the study, which began in January 2000, were at least 64 years old at the time and had not been diagnosed with any form of dementia at the time. By the time the research concluded, nearly 22% were diagnosed with the disease.

The researchers developed a model based on their findings to project what percentage of people would develop dementia after the age of 65. According to the model, Latinos were at close to 30%.

“We had to do this first large study where we could see the disparities,” said Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, lead author of the study. “The next step is to do smaller studies to really understand the mechanism driving these inequalities.”

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