Random Facts

The Scandinavian and middle eastern countries have the highest rates of alzheimers - and AD is higher in whites than blacks or hispanics in the United States. (World Life Expectancy) (Alz death rates)(CDC) Longevity may explain some, but not all of the increased rates. (See life expectancy chart below, Japan and Singapore have the highest life expectancy and some of the lowest AD rates.) (Our world in data life expectancy by country) Comparing the rates of black in africa to those in the US, Japanese in America versus the rate in Japan presumes that environment is more important than genetics. (Hendrie, 2001)(White, 1996)

Alzheimers is now the #1 cause of death in the UK (Guardian, 2016) and #6 in the US (CDC) Alzheimers and dementia rates are increasing quickly across the globe. China has tracked their increase from 1990-2000 and the rates for all age groups have increased quickly (Chan, 2016) Japan is seeing an increase in dementia with adoption of the western diet/lifestyle (Grant, 2014)

Some researchers argue that the rate of dementia/AD is actually decreasing in the developed world (while increasing in the developing world, like China.) They argue that because health/wealth/environmental toxin exposure have improved, the rates have decreased by birth year. Their premise is compelling but also from a small sample of just 1300 people over aged 70. (alzforum)

There are still plenty of other ways to die.

Not a perfect match, but... the level of water hardness and/or corrosiveness (acidity) does correlate with the of Alzheimer's age adjusted death rate by state. The income distribution also maps well and may explain some of the differences (higher income corresponding to better dental care, more leisure, less stress, better food, mineral water/vegetable options, etc.)

The risk of Alzheimer’s doubles every 5 years after the age of 65, with the average risk peaking at 33% after age 85. (alz.org) Interestingly, the rate of cancer peaks by 70 and decreases with age after that point. (White, 2014) and cancer and alzheimers appear to have an inverse relationship. The two have opposite plasmalogen relationships. (Ganguli, 2015 ) (Nixon, 2017) (Driver, 2012) (Roe 2005) (Shi, 2014)

Epidemiological data suggests that those living a life of leisure (frequent game playing, lounging, country clubs, exercise for fun, or social gatherings) versus those with "the work to survive" mentality have a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. (Scarmeas, 2003) (Rovio, 2005)

Sauna use is associated with less dementia and Alzheimer's in a dose dependent manner. 4-7 sessions per week were better than 2 sessions per week, were better than 1. Is it because those people had more time to lounge or that saunas are beneficial? (Laukkannen, 2017) The same was found for hypertension (Zaccardi, 2017)

Dental deafferentation (tooth loss, jaw issues, and augmented chewing) may be associated with Alzheimers and dementia. It's theorized that our brains receive signals from chewing/tasting/eating and that when the brain gets the signal of errored eating, it begins to shut down. Maybe in an evolutionary sense, it makes sense for our brains to shut down when we are no longer chewing properly so that resources can be saved for the young? People with dental issues like missing teeth and misaligned jaws tend to have more dementia than those that repair the bite/chewing. Is this because the brain receives signals or because the people who can afford or choose to repair their mouths have easier, more enriched lives? (Jou, 2018)

A large study of high school personality in the 1960s (with 377,000 people) showed a decreased incidence of dementia (7-10% per variable per standard deviation from the mean) at age 70 in those that had vigor, calmness, and/or maturity as teenagers (Alzforum)

It has been proposed that there may be 3 subtypes of Alzheimer's - making diagnosis/treatment better tailored to the type may improve outcomes. (Breseden, 2015) These 3 types are: inflammatory (characterized by high hs-crp and globulin/albumin ratios (in the 60s-70s), noninflammatory but with other metabolic markers (like low vitamin D levels, high homocysteine, insulin resistance, +) usually in the 8th decade, and younger onset (40s -50s) with marked zinc deficiency, that is possibly caused or precipitated by stress and mycotoxin inhalation (Breseden, 2016)