Study By the year 2060, the number of people with dementia will double

In the future, there will be more and more people with dementia

Researchers have now published a study examining rates of dementia. Based on the analysis of the data, the experts predicted that a strong increase in the disease is to be feared by 2060.

The scientists at the US Centers of Disease Control (CDC) have determined in their current research that in the future, the number of people with dementia could double by 2060. The physicians published the results of their study in the English language journal "Alzheimer's & Dementia".

More and more older people are now suffering from dementia. This leads to high costs for the health system. (Image: Ocskay Mark / fotolia.com)

Dementia will double

According to the study, 1.6 percent of the population and about 5 million people in America currently suffer from dementia. This figure is expected to rise to 3.3 percent of the population or 13.9 million people by 2060, say the experts. These predictions are mainly due to the fact that the age of America's population continues to rise. By the year 2035, more people will be over the age of 65 than there are adolescents under the age of 18, the researchers explain. There is a dramatic increase in some population groups, as, for example, colored people will in future constitute a much larger percentage of the total population over the age of 65, say the physicians.

Black dementia risk will increase six or sevenfold

By 2060, non-Caucasian populations are expected to account for 45 percent of those over 65 years old. While the number of white people with dementia will roughly double over time, the colorectal incidence rates will increase six or seven times, according to experts. The total number of people living with dementia today is lower than the predicted number of African-American and Hispanic people who will suffer from dementia in 2060, the researchers add.

Age is the biggest risk factor for dementia

Age is the number one risk factor for the development of dementia, but our race can also play an important role. Black people over the age of 65 have the highest rates of dementia at 13.8 percent. The rate for Hispanic people in the same age group is 12.2 percent. For white people, the rate is ten percent.

Minorities tend to be underperformed in the US?

Colored people are already facing a difficult situation in the US healthcare system. Minorities in the United States tend to be medically poorer than white people, claim the study authors. With an increasing proportion of older African American people in the population, the demand for geriatrics physicians will increase sharply. (As)