Tedd Koren DC on Dementia Facts: True or False?

This headline struck me: Dementia Cases to Double Every 20 Years.

Below is the rest of the newspaper article. Apparently longer life spans cause dementia – even though this is a relatively new phenomenon. Since when did old age cause dementia?

No mention of the link between vaccines (including the flu shot) and dementia. Oh no- the implication is that medicine is keeping us living longer (not healthier, they don’t go that far) and that because we are living longer we’re getting cancer and dementia since they are diseases of old age.

I’ve heard that bogus argument before. What about all the increases in childhood cancers? What about the people in their 30s and 40s now being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?

Why doesn’t anyone suggest that medical care might be causing these problems? Especially all the drugs given to the elderly? Ah – uncomfortable questions.

Anyway here’s the rest of the article.

(Sept. 21, 2009) — The number of people with dementia globally is estimated to nearly double every 20 years, according to a report released Monday for World Alzheimer’s Day. Much of the growth will be fueled by longer life spans and population growth, especially in developing nations.

Over the next 20 years, the numbers of people with dementia are anticipated to increase by 40 percent in Europe, 63 percent in North America, 77 percent in the southern Latin America … and 89 percent in the developed Asia Pacific countries,” said the report, from Alzheimer’s Disease International.

“In comparison, the percentage increase is expected to be 117 percent in East Asia, 107 percent in South Asia, 134-146 percent in the rest of Latin America, and 125 percent in North Africa and the Middle East.”
By 2010, an estimated 35.6 million people around the world will be living with dementia. The number is expected to hit 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. One in seven Americans age 71 and older, or about 3.4 million, have dementia, according to the National Institutes of Health. In this age group, 2.4 million people have Alzheimer’s disease, NIH research has shown. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic.