Alzheimer's Termed "Silent Epidemic" Among African Americans

Alzheimer's disease has become a "silent epidemic" among African Americans, according to a new report prepared by the Alzheimer's Association and released by the Congressional Black Caucus.

The report, an accumulation of evidence about the scope and nature of Alzheimer's disease, suggests that the rate of Alzheimer's disease is from 14 to 100 percent higher in African Americans range than in Caucasians.

"Each scientific study is important research on its own, but when put together with other studies the magnitude of the crisis becomes clear," said Orien Reid, chair of the Alzheimer's Association Board of Directors.

"Alzheimer's disease is a 'silent epidemic' that has slowly invaded the African American community before most of us were even aware of its symptoms and its impact," said Reid. "Now we must mobilize all of the resources we can find to get it under control before it overwhelms us."

Highlights of the report include:

• Age-specific prevalence of dementia has been found to be 14 percent to 100 percent higher in African Americans.
• The cumulative risk of dementia among first-degree relatives of African-Americans with Alzheimer's disease is 43.7 percent.
• The cumulative risk of dementia for spouses (sharing environmental but not genetic backgrounds) is 18.4 percent
• Age is a key risk factor for Alzheimer's disease in all racial and ethnic groups. Over 10 percent all persons over 65, and nearly 50 percent of those over 85 have the disease.

Researchers speculate that vascular disease may be a significant factor in the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in African Americans. People with a history of either high blood pressure or high cholesterol have been found twice as likely to get Alzheimer's disease. Those with both risk factors are four times as likely to develop the disease.

Sixty-five percent of Medicare beneficiaries who are African American have hypertension compared to 51 percent of whites.

The ethnic and cultural bias in current screening and assessment tools has been proven, resulting in a much higher rate of African Americans being falsely diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. However, there is strong evidence showing underreporting of dementia among that population.

African-Americans are often diagnosed at a later stage of Alzheimer's disease, limiting the effectiveness of treatment that works best in early intervention.

African Americans are also severely underrepresented in clinical trials for treatments and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, even though there is evidence that genetic differences and response to drugs varies significantly by race and ethnicity.

Other sources: Journal of the American Medical Association