Dementia cases jump in US
Source: Agencies |
March 25, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE aging of the massive post-World War II baby boom generation in the US is casting light on early-onset dementia, a sorrowful subset of younger people experiencing a slow, cruel overtaking of their minds.
About 200,000 Americans under 65 are among the 5.4 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Experts' estimates suggest there's a similar number of younger people with other types of dementia, meaning about a half-million Americans, some as young as their 30s, suffer from early-onset or younger-onset dementia.
The number of people suffering from all types of dementia is increasing because of the aging of the baby boom generation - the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - though there's no sign the percentage of younger people with dementia is going up.
Dr Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems and author of "How We Age," says symptoms of dementia in a younger patient can be glaring. But diagnosis is often complicated by the fact that it's so uncommon in younger patients and that so many other conditions could cause the symptoms.
Agronin sees no evidence of an increasing rate of early-onset dementia, but there is increased interest. At the memory clinic he runs at Miami Jewish, he has seen an uptick in younger patients concerned their memory lapses mean they have Alzheimer's. They're almost always wrong.
When they're not, the diagnosis can be devastating.
"It's very distressing because they come in and they have young spouses and some of them have kids in grade school," Agronin said. "It's frightening to see someone so young becoming so impaired."
Beth Kallmyer, a social worker at the Alzheimer's Association, said younger people with dementia often get incredulous reactions from others when they tell them. Many don't realize the disease can affect those who aren't very old.
About 200,000 Americans under 65 are among the 5.4 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Experts' estimates suggest there's a similar number of younger people with other types of dementia, meaning about a half-million Americans, some as young as their 30s, suffer from early-onset or younger-onset dementia.
The number of people suffering from all types of dementia is increasing because of the aging of the baby boom generation - the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - though there's no sign the percentage of younger people with dementia is going up.
Dr Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems and author of "How We Age," says symptoms of dementia in a younger patient can be glaring. But diagnosis is often complicated by the fact that it's so uncommon in younger patients and that so many other conditions could cause the symptoms.
Agronin sees no evidence of an increasing rate of early-onset dementia, but there is increased interest. At the memory clinic he runs at Miami Jewish, he has seen an uptick in younger patients concerned their memory lapses mean they have Alzheimer's. They're almost always wrong.
When they're not, the diagnosis can be devastating.
"It's very distressing because they come in and they have young spouses and some of them have kids in grade school," Agronin said. "It's frightening to see someone so young becoming so impaired."
Beth Kallmyer, a social worker at the Alzheimer's Association, said younger people with dementia often get incredulous reactions from others when they tell them. Many don't realize the disease can affect those who aren't very old.
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