Despite widespread reports of a coming ‘dementia tsunami’, incidence of the condition in the UK have fallen by 20 per cent, a new study has claimed.
According to the Cambridge scientists behind a major new study, rising health levels and a reduction in smoking are contributing towards a general improvement in “brain health” in Britain.
Working with colleagues in Newcastle, Nottingham and East Anglia, Cambridge researchers interviewed 7,500 people between 1991 and 1994, with repeat interviews after two years.
Then, 20 years later, they featured a new sample of participants from the same locations.
They found dementia incidence across the two decades has dropped by 20 per cent, a fall driven by a reduction in incidence among men at all ages.
Prevalence (the proportion of people with dementia), has been reported to have dropped in some European countries, but scientists say it is incidence (the proportion of people developing dementia in a given time period) that provides the most robust evidence of fundamental change in populations.
It is not clear why rates among men have declined faster than those among women, though it has been suggested it is related to the drop in smoking and vascular health improving in men.
Professor Carol Brayne, director of the Cambridge Institute of Public Health, said: “Our findings suggest that brain health is improving significantly in the UK across generations, particularly among men, but that deprivation is still putting people at a disadvantage.
“The UK in earlier eras has seen major societal investments into improving population health and this appears to be helping protect older people from dementia.”
Professor Fiona Matthews from the MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge said: “Public health measures aimed at reducing people’s risk of developing dementia are vital and potentially more cost effective in the long run than relying on early detection and treating dementia once it is present.
“Our findings support a public health approach for long term dementia prevention, although clearly this does not reduce the need for alternative approaches for at-risk groups and for those who develop dementia.”
While influential reports continue to promote future scenarios of huge increases of people with dementia across the globe, the researchers argue their study shows global attention and investment in reducing the risk of dementia can help prevent such increases.
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