Rates of dementia in Hispanics and African Americans "are dramatically in excess of that found in non-Hispanic whites," according to a new report, Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans, from the National Research Council.
Ravages of time. Hispanics hardest hit by dementia.
SOURCE: NRC
Researchers with the North Manhattan Aging Project in New York determined that "mislabeling of depression as dementia ... could not be implicated" in the ethnic differences. In fact, blacks, despite relatively high levels of dementia, show very little depression, while whites have the most.
On the other hand, the researchers write, "evidence is mounting" that education is related to dementia and appears to have a protective effect. That would fit with the ethnic rankings, because Hispanics have the least amount of education of the three groups. There are several possible explanations for the connection: People may drop out of school because of cognitive deficits that later lead to dementia; low education level may be a marker for other problems such as bad nutrition; or learning contributes to "a robust neurological structure" that helps people compensate for the erosion of mental abilities. Psychiatrist Barry Gurland of Columbia University's Stroud Center in New York, senior author of the report, says his group hopes to learn more by observing the strategies used by educated people to cope "in the earliest stages of cognitive decline."
