TeamAlzheimers.org - Socioeconomic and Cultural Implications

Alzheimer's Hits Minorities Especially Hard

As more Americans benefit from life-saving medical innovations, deaths from illnesses like cancer and heart disease are on the decline. But longer lives are leaving us vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease, which is now killing more elderly Americans than ever before -- especially blacks and Hispanics…

Compared with whites, African-Americans are twice as likely to suffer from the debilitating illness, and Hispanics one and a half times as likely. That's according to today's Alzheimer's Report, a comprehensive analysis of the illness's impact between 2000 and 2006, released by the Alzheimer's Association.

Deaths caused by Alzheimer's increased 46 percent during the span of the association's research.

More than 5 million Americans are struggling with Alzheimer's or related dementia diagnoses. The association expects that number to rise, as a massive swath of the population nears old age and life expectancy rates continue to increase.

"Strategic investments in research for diseases such as heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, stroke and HIV/AIDS have all resulted in declines in deaths," Harry Johns, director of the Alzheimer's Association, said in a statement. "We have not seen the same type of significant strategic investment in Alzheimer's, and because of that, deaths from Alzheimer's disease continue to soar."

Despite the heightened prevalence among black and Hispanic populations, researchers have yet to pin down a genetic basis for the illness.

Rather, they suspect that community norms are indirectly affecting the risk of both ethnic groups. Socioeconomic factors, like low income and education level, are tied to Alzheimer's. So are diabetes and high blood pressure, two illnesses that affect blacks and Hispanics more often and are more likely to go untreated in communities with less access to health care.

"Data from a federal survey of older Americans show that African-Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately represented among socioeconomically disadvantaged people in this country," the report notes.

And limited access to health care also leaves members of black and Hispanic communities with less opportunity for a timely diagnosis of contributing risk factors, like diabetes, or of Alzheimer's itself.

Some communities are also bound by tradition, with family members neglecting to report symptoms to doctors out of respect for their elders.

In a survey of Alzheimer's patients, the report concluded that whites were more likely to have received a "formal diagnosis" from a doctor at the onset of their illness.

When it comes to treating Alzheimer's, doctors agree that sooner is always better. Right now, the disease has no cure, but the Food and Drug Administration has approved two medications to delay the progression of Alzheimer's symptoms.

And because the disease strikes in old age and often moves slowly, it's costly to the health care system and to family caregivers. The Alzheimer's Association's report estimates that the disease will cost the nation $172 billion in 2010 and that family caregivers provided $144 billion worth of unpaid care in 2009.

It's another example of the socioeconomic and cultural implications of the illness. Minority communities are more likely to keep their elderly family members at home, and are less likely to be able to afford high-quality professional care. That leaves them compelled to sacrifice time, money and even their own emotional health as they watch a loved one slip away.

With no cure and death rates due to Alzheimer's on the rise, prevention is all the more important. Heart health, weight control, physical activity and mental stimulation can all help, according to the National Institute on Aging.