Eastern, Southeastern U.S. Have Highest Prevalence of Alzheimer Disease

MONDAY, July 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The Eastern and Southeastern United States have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer disease, according to a study presented at the annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference, held from July 16 to 20 in Amsterdam.

Kumar B. Rajan, Ph.D., from Rush Medical College in Chicago, and colleagues combined cognitive data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project with the National Center for Health Statistics 2020 bridged-race population estimates to assess the state- and county-specific prevalence of Alzheimer disease for adults aged 65 years and older.

The researchers found that the Eastern and Southeastern regions of the United States had a higher estimated prevalence of Alzheimer disease, with the highest prevalence seen in Maryland, New York, Mississippi, and Florida (12.9, 12.7, 12.5, and 12.5 percent, respectively). The 10 states with a higher prevalence of Alzheimer disease also included California and Illinois. The highest numbers of people with Alzheimer dementia were in California (719.7 thousand), Florida (579.9 thousand), and Texas (459.3 thousand). Miami-Dade County in Florida, Baltimore County in Maryland, and Bronx County in New York were the counties with the highest prevalence (16.6 percent).

"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," Rajan said in a statement.

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