Younger generations less likely to have dementia, study suggests
People born more recently are less likely to have dementia at any given age than earlier generations, research suggests, with the trend more pronounced in women.According to the World Health Organization, in 2021 there were 57 million people worldwide living with dementia, with women disproportionately affected.However, while the risk of dementia increases with age, experts have long stressed it is not not an inevitability of getting older.“Younger generations are less likely to develop dementia at the same age as their parents or grandparents, and that’s a hopeful sign,” said Dr Sabrina Lenzen, a co-author of the study from the University of Queensland’s Centre for the Business and Economics of Health.But she added: “The overall burden of dementia will still grow as populations age, and significant inequalities remain – especially by gender, education and geography.
”Writing in the journal Jama Network Open, researchers in Australia report how they analysed data from 62,437 people aged 70 and over, collected from three long-running surveys covering the US, England and parts of Europe,The team used an algorithm that took into account participants’ responses to a host of different metrics, from the difficulties they had with everyday activities to their scores on cognitive tests, to determine whether they were likely to have dementia,They then split the participants into eight different cohorts, representing different generations,Participants were also split into six age groups,As expected, the researchers found the prevalence of dementia increased by age among all birth cohorts, and in each of the three regions: UK, US and Europe.
However, at a given age, people in more recent generations were less likely to have dementia compared with those in earlier generations.“For example, in the US, among people aged 81 to 85, 25.1% of those born between 1890–1913 had dementia, compared to 15.5% of those born between 1939–1943,” said Lenzen, adding similar trends were seen in Europe and England, although less pronounced in the latter.The team said the trend was more pronounced in women, especially in Europe and England, noting that one reason may be increased access to education for women in the mid-20th century.
However, taking into account changes in GDP, a metric that reflects broader economic shifts, did not substantially alter the findings,Prof Tara Spires-Jones, the director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, described the study as well-conducted,“The number of people living with dementia is still increasing due to our ageing population, but this study adds to the good news that more recent generations have a decreased risk compared to past generations,” she said,While the study did not investigate the reasons for the decline, Spires-Jones noted a number of factors could be at play,“This is likely due to interventions such as compulsory education, smoking bans, and improvements in medical treatments for conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and hearing loss, which are associated with dementia risk,” she said.
Spires-Jones added the study had limitations, including that it did not rely on official diagnoses of dementia based on clinical testing.Prof Tom Dening, of the University of Nottingham, said the study contained good news but it should not be assumed that the trend would continue, given some of the biggest health changes to reduce dementia risk may already have been made.Prof Eric Brunner, of University College London, said it was important to look closely at recent trends and the impact of policies such as austerity, given other studies – including his own work relating to England and Wales – have suggested dementia incidence, in other words the rate of new cases, may no longer be declining.David Thomas, the head of policy and public affairs at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said evidence suggested nearly half of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 key risk factors – from smoking to air quality – although he noted not all were within individuals’ control.“That’s why Alzheimer’s Research UK is calling on the government to put in place a strategy for preventing ill-health, including addressing dementia risk,” he said.
How to make early prison release work | Letters
Sir Mark Rowley is completely justified in his fears for public safety (UK’s most senior police officer criticises early prison release scheme, 28 May). We confuse the lines between punishment, prison sentencing, deterrence and the desire to prevent reoffending.We can readily identify those who are less likely to reoffend – those who are over 25 and no longer testosterone-fuelled, those who do not have a drug habit, have a home and family to go to, and a means of earning an income.We know, too, that if prison works as a deterrence, its greatest impact is in the first few days of being there. Thereafter, life becomes institutionalised
UK cancer survival rate doubles since 1970s amid ‘golden age’, report says
The proportion of people surviving cancer in the UK has doubled since the 1970s amid a “golden age” of progress in diagnosis and treatment, a report says.Half of those diagnosed will now survive for 10 years or more, up from 24%, according to the first study of 50 years of data on cancer mortality and cases. The rate of people dying from cancer has fallen by 23% since the 1970s, from 328 in every 100,000 people to 252.But cancer remains the UK’s biggest killer, the report by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) says.Progress has not been equal across all cancers, and women have not reaped as many benefits as men
Cancer experts warn of coffee enemas and juice diets amid rise in misinformation
Cancer patients are snubbing proven treatments in favour of quackery such as coffee enemas and raw juice diets amid an “alarming” increase in misinformation on the web, doctors have said.Some were dying needlessly or seeing tumours spread as a result, oncologists said. They raised their concerns at the world’s largest cancer conference in Chicago, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco).Dr Fumiko Chino, a cancer researcher and assistant professor at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, co-authored a paper presented in Chicago that said cancer misinformation had “acutely worsened in the past decade”.With more people being diagnosed amid a growing and ageing global population, misleading or false information about cancer had become a significant public health concern, the study said
Disabled woman killed herself after DWP mistakenly withdrew benefits
A disabled woman killed herself after her benefits were mistakenly stopped leaving notes saying she had no food, could not pay bills and was in “debt, debt, debt”.At a rare second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting, her mother blamed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for her suicide in 2017.Joy Dove told the hearing in Middlesbrough: “I know for a fact. It was the DWP that caused it … I’m sorry, I’ve got to say it.”A coroner, Clare Bailey, recorded a conclusion of suicide which, she said, had been precipitated by the mistaken withdrawal of benefits by the DWP
Issues in social housing that Labour must tackle | Letters
The housing ombudsman’s latest report recorded a significant increase in social housing repairs and maintenance complaints since 2020 (Housing ombudsman for England warns of ‘simmering anger’ over living conditions, 29 May). We as a sector support the ombudsman’s campaign to raise awareness among tenants of routes to redress in cases where issues with their homes have not been resolved. It is also important to look at these figures in context.The increase represents one complaint upheld by the ombudsman for every 1,000 social homes. With many more residents now aware of the ombudsman’s service following an ad campaign, care must be taken when drawing any conclusions from the data
Police launch corporate manslaughter inquiry into Nottingham hospital trust
An NHS trust is being investigated on suspicion of corporate manslaughter after the deaths and severe harm of potentially more than 2,000 babies and women in Nottinghamshire.Police are reviewing more than 200 alleged failures of maternity care at Nottingham university hospitals (NUH) NHS trust but this figure could rise to about 2,500.NUH is at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS led by the respected midwife Donna Ockenden, who is examining deaths and harm spanning more than a decade at the Queen’s medical centre and Nottingham City hospital.Nottinghamshire police said on Monday they were investigating possible corporate manslaughter at the trust.Det Supt Matthew Croome said the alleged offences related to “circumstances where an organisation has been grossly negligent in the management of its activities, which has then led to a person’s death”
A woman’s work is never done in a nice, quiet home office | Letters
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