Dementia a Greater Risk Among Elderly African Americans, Native Americans with Diabetes

Older Native Americans and African-Americans with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop dementia than other groups, according to the first study to analyze racial and ethnic differences in dementia risk for individuals with type 2 diabetes. The lowest group at risk is Asian-Americans.

The study, published in Diabetes Care, included more than 22,000 patients over 60 years old who were members of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Diabetes Registry. Dementia was diagnosed in 3,796 patients (17.1 percent of the study cohort) during a follow-up of up to 10 years. Dementia was not present in any of the patients at the start of the study.

Native Americans were 64 percent more likely to develop dementia, and African-Americans were 44 percent more likely. One in five African-Americans and Native Americans were diagnosed with dementia during the 10-year study.

According to senior author Rachel Whitmer, PhD, research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, the significant differences in rates of dementia in elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes were not explained by diabetes-related complications, glycemic control or duration of diabetes. Nor were they altered by factors of age, gender, neighborhood deprivation index, body mass index, or hypertension."

Ethnic minorities are the fastest-growing segment of the senior U.S. population, and certain racial and ethnic groups including Latinos, African-Americans, some Asian American groups, and Native Americans, are more affected by type 2 diabetes. Studies show those with type 2 diabetes have double the risk of developing dementia.

More research is needed to prevent dementia in general, and researches determined that more work is needed to identify factors that will reduce dementia risk for those with diabetes, particularly for ethnic and minority groups at highest risk.

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Source: Kaiser Permanente (2013, December 11). Dementia risk greatest for older Native-Americans, African-Americans with diabetes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 19, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/12/131211104246.htm