Where you live might impact your risk of being diagnosed with dementia, according to a recent study.
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) found that military veterans who live in the Southeastern U.S. have a 25% higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia compared with veterans in Mid-Atlantic states, which had the lowest incidence of dementia and were used as the basis for comparison in the study.
The study is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind.
Researchers analyzed data on over 1.2 million older veterans and accounted for factors such as age, race and cardiovascular disease before reaching their conclusions.
They also accounted for the differences between urban areas and rural areas, where medical care might be more difficult to access.
Here is a breakdown of the regions and the risk of dementia in each:
- Southeast (MS, AL, TN, KY): 25% higher
- Southwest (AZ, CA, HI, NV): 13% higher
- South Atlantic (FL, GA, NC, SC): 12% higher
- South (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX): 18% higher
- Rocky Mountains (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY): 23% higher
- Northwest (ID, OR, WA, AK): 23% higher
- Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT): 7% higher
- Midwest (IA, KS, MO, NE): 12% higher
- Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI): 7% higher
As mentioned before, the Mid-Atlantic region (DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, WV and Washington, D.C.) was used as the basis for the comparison, as it had the lowest incidence of dementia.
The findings were published in a scientific journal of the American Medical Association.
Now that the researchers understand where dementia risk is highest, the next step is to figure out why the disease strikes some regions more than others.
In a summary of the findings, first study author Christina Dintica, a researcher in the UCSF School of Medicine, says:
“Quality of education, early life conditions, and environmental exposures may be among those factors.”
For more recent news about dementia, check out “1 in 3 Dementia Cases May Be Linked to This Common Condition” and “Red Meat Is Now Tied to Dementia — but 3 Other Proteins May Lower Risk by 28%.”
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