Why are dementia cases emerging in China?
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Dementia rates increase faster in China than almost any other place in the world, with more than quadruplic cases in the country in recent decades.
Daoying Geng at the University of Fudan in China and his colleagues analyzed dementia rates in 204 countries and regions around the world between 1990 and 2021. They used a database of the World Health Organization to collect information about deaths by dementia and cases in the elderly and old dementia
The researchers found that the number of people with dementia worldwide worldwide doubled this period, from almost 22 million in 1990 to about 57 million in 2021. The increase was equally more drastic in China, where cases rather than Tadtruthe than Tanhe Tadruthe than Tangh Million in the same period of time.
A subsequent analysis revealed that population growth was the main culprit. Birth rates in China shot in the 1950s. “Then, these people are getting old today, now in their 70 years, which is the most risky group for dementia,” says Xi Chen at Yale University, who was involved in the study. “Many countries have Baby Boomers, but not a cohort as great as China’s baby boomers. So that is the main problem.”
The team identified three other important factors that contribute to the growing dementia rates of China. The first, smoking, almost exclusively affects men, since only 2 percent of women in China smoke cigarettes, while approximately half or all men do. This contrasts with richer countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where smoking rates have constantly decreased, says Chen.
A western trend that China has echoed is a jump in diabetes and obesity rates, partly in recent decades, which are risk factors for dementia. This is probably because people in China are adopting a toughest diet high in fat and calories, says Chen. He believes that dementia rates in China will possibly resemble those of the United States or the United Kingdom, since younger generations tend to smoke less than the elderly. But the condition will still have a great impact on China on Meanime.
“Dementia is one of the most exensive diseases in the world. It requires very care and treatment,” says Chen. “And in terms of a population that ages, China is still the largest in the world. There are fewer young people who take care of a larger cohort or older people with dementia. Therefore, all these are challenges.”
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