Dementia rates decline significantly across multiple studies
6 reported
A decade of research by Mr Stallard has corroborated a striking decline in dementia rates among older Americans. Last year, Stallard and colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that 40 years ago three in every ten Americans aged 85-89 had dementia, but by 2024 only one in ten had it. This trend is not limited to the United States; a study of nearly 50,000 people across six North American and European countries found that between 1988 and 2015, the share of older people diagnosed with dementia fell by 13% per decade. Smaller studies, such as the Framingham Heart Study, also show an average drop of 20% per decade in new dementia cases over nearly 40 years. Those entering old age in 2013 were 44% less likely to have dementia than those in 1978. Stallard’s analysis of narrow age bands across cohorts over 50 years calculates that dementia rates have been declining by 2.5-3% for each calendar-year cohort.
What’s reported
Mr Stallard has worked for a decade to corroborate this revelation.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 40 years ago three in ten Americans aged 85-89 had dementia; by 2024, one in ten had it.
Between 1988 and 2015, the share of older people diagnosed with dementia fell by 13% per decade across six North American and European countries, according to a study of nearly 50,000 people by Frank Wolters of Erasmus Medical Centre.
The Framingham Heart Study shows an average drop in new dementia cases of 20% per decade over nearly 40 years.
Those entering old age in 2013 were 44% less likely to have dementia than those in 1978.
Stallard calculates dementia rates have been declining by 2.5-3% for each calendar-year cohort.
Key figures
Mr Stallard (researcher, no first name or title provided)
Frank Wolters (researcher at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam)
Sources: marginalrevolution.com
