Overview:
A new study found that Native people experience high rates of four modifiable Alzheimer’s risk factors — limited access to education, hypertension, social isolation and depression — highlighting opportunities for preventive care and public health interventions to reduce dementia risk.
Native people face significant risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, which can be largely reduced by preventive care and public health initiatives, according to a new study.
The research was conducted among participants of the Strong Hearts Study, a cohort of American Indians ages 45–95 living in Tribal communities in the U.S. Southwest, Southern Plains, and Northern Plains. Launched in 1984, the Study is the largest epidemiologic study of cardiovascular health among Native people and is currently in its seventh stage. Participants attended multiple examination visits from mid- to late life and underwent cognitive assessments.
Of the fourteen modifiable risk factors that account for 45% of Alzheimer’s cases, the study found that Native people experience four of those at high levels: limited access to education, hypertension, social isolation, and depression.
The findings could make a substantial impact, as more than half of Native Americans between the ages of 70-95 have cognitive impairment — including 10% with dementia — compared to 22% of the U.S. population.
Corresponding author Astrid Suchy-Dicey, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, said
“Later-life factors (isolation, depression) are likely to provide efficient targets for community interventions, whereas public health programs designed to improve treatment and control of hypertension and cardiovascular conditions are critically needed to resolve persistent health inequities,” Suchy-Dicey said. “Structural improvements to educational systems, learning resources and skills training for rural communities may result in better life-course trajectories for all who live in those communities.”
Suchy-Dicey added that future research should examine younger populations to determine how people transition from cognitively healthy to symptomatic.
With the Indian Health Service (IHS) being underfunded by tens of billions of dollars and chronically understaffed, limited access to healthcare in Indian Country means Native people living on reservations are less likely to be diagnosed with dementia once symptoms start.
The Alzheimer’s Association predicts that in the next 40 years, the number of Native people aged 65 and older living with dementia will increase fourfold.
To reduce one’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends staying physically active, preventing or managing diabetes, managing blood pressure, treating hearing loss, and limiting smoking and alcohol intake.
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