Study identifies which states have highest rate of Alzheimer’s

This month, researchers for the first time released county-level estimates of Alzheimer’s disease prevalence in the U.S.

The data, shared at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, found that the southeast and the east regions of the U.S. had the highest prevalence of the disease.

For counties with a population of 10,000 or more individuals age 65 or older, researchers estimate the highest Alzheimer’s prevalence rates are in:

• Miami-Dade County, Fla. (16.6%)
• Baltimore City, Md. (16.6%)
• Bronx County, N.Y. (16.6%)
• Prince George’s County, Md. (16.1%)
• Hinds County, Miss. (15.5%)
• Orleans Parish, La. (15.4%)
• Dougherty County, Ga. (15.3%)
• Orangeburg County, S.C. (15.2%)
• Imperial County, Calif. (15.0%)
• El Paso County, Texas (15.0%)

According to CNN, at the state level, Maryland registered the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, followed by New York and Mississippi.

The findings suggest that counties with an older average age population and higher percentages of Black and Hispanic residents are at higher risk. The hope in compiling and releasing such data is that it “may help public health programs better allocate funding, staffing and other resources for caring for people with Alzheimer’s and all other dementia,” according to Kumar B. Rajan, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College.