Serious cognitive problems see abrupt drop among older people, study says

[NJCher]

Good news from the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Why is interesting (last paragraph at link).

BY KATIE CAMERO
DECEMBER 27, 2021 1:44 PM

There was an “abrupt decline” in the percentage of older Americans reporting serious problems with concentration, memory and decision making over a decade — particularly among women, according to a new study. Researchers are heralding the findings as “very welcome” news.

From 2008 to 2017, the percentage of adults ages 65 and older in the U.S. with serious cognitive issues dropped from 12.2% to 10%, researchers from Canada found. In a hypothetical scenario without the decline, about an additional 1.1 million older people in the U.S. would have reported experiencing mental congestion.

And older women appeared to drive much of the plunge. Serious cognitive problems declined 23% over a decade among women in the age group, compared to 13% among men, the study published last month in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found.

“We were astonished to see the prevalence of cognitive impairment decrease so sharply over such a short period of time,” study lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, director of the University of Toronto’s Institute for Life Course & Aging, said in a news release posted Dec. 23. “This decline in the prevalence of serious cognitive problems has a cascade of benefits for older adults, their families and caregivers, the health and long-term care system and the whole U.S. economy.”

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article256868217.html#storylink=cpy

[vanlassie]

1. So... I guess it wasn't the Viagra?😉

[ShazzieB]

3. Not hardly.

[katmondoo]

5. I am female 92 years old. Live by myself, take care of myself. Some memory problems but not bad.

I can always use Google

[No Vested Interest]

14. I salute you and am trying to emulate your example.

I'm 86, live alone in 1 floor house, take care of myself, but have occasional house-cleaning help, and daughter who assists as she is able.
Memory pretty good, but at times I feel I have too much on my plate. I am responsible for decisions re a disabled daughter in long-term care.

[brush]

2. Hmmmm...at the risk of starting another generation war...

here on DU, boomers must be doing something right.

Flame on.

[DBoon]

4. was it all that marijuana in their youth?

[vanlassie]

6. But more females?

[DBoon]

8. long term effects of birth control pills?

[brush]

10. Female boomers smoked too. Women live longer anyway.

[vanlassie]

7. More:

“ It’s possible that better nutrition, declines in smoking and the phase-out of leaded gasoline — which previous research has connected to increased rates of dementia — also contributed to the “positive trends.”

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article256868217.html#storylink=cpy

[alittlelark]

9. Many ppl over 65 are taking CBD or using marijuana

Now that they have access.

Could there be a correlation?

[No Vested Interest]

16. I'm 86 and have never used CBD or marijuana.

Have plenty of daily meds, but luckily, nothing for pain.
I'm really more of the "Silent" generation of the 50's.
Never had a smoking habit, though many of my friends and cohorts did.
That has likely served me fairly well.

[Srkdqltr]

11. The internet. More visual stimulation?

More chances to be interested in new things. More mobility and contact with information. Better education in women in the 40's and forward, and men also. Way more chances to pursue hobbies and interests. Just a better knowledge of what is out there. Good or bad.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. I think the trans fats generation has passed

From 1930 to the mid 70s, trans fats were king. Good, white, hydrogenated vegetable oils. Then an oil awakening - olive, safflower, sunflower, soybean, blended margarines.

Some of it still isn't the best, but the decline of trans fat usage has been steady.

That's my hunch.

[KT2000]

13. I would look at chemicals that were banned

or traditional housecleaning products that are no longer used. In the 40's women were instructed to wash their husband's wool suits in gasoline. They had a big tub of gasoline in the kitchen to wash the suits and other woolens. Women were also told to put on their gloves, wash them in the gasoline and wear them until they dried. Just one example.

[No Vested Interest]

15. I was living in the 1940's and never heard of such a thing as a woman washing her husband's suits

at all.
My mother, a 20's flapper, would never have done such a thing, though she did use soap, not shampoo, to wash my hair, and rinsed it with vinegar to remove soap buildup and return shone to hair.

[KT2000]

17. There is a YouTube video

that discusses the dangers.

I wrote an essay for a health magazine and consulted several books from the early 1900's that instructed women to use gasoline to clean clothes.

[No Vested Interest]

18. Video says 1930s, and probably only very early 30's and not commonly used.

Soap products were very common and inexpensive.
Detergent products were not in use until 1950s.
Ivory soap bars, Ivory flakes, Dreft, Camay, Palmolive bar, Lifebuoy, Werk soap, Tag soap bars were common in 1930's, 40's.

Dry cleaning establishments were common in communities, also laundries, often run by Chinese immigrants. (I used a local Chinese laundry in NY state throughout the mid-50's, and there was still a Chinese laundry in my neighborhood well into the 60's.)

[I_UndergroundPanther]

19. Oh gross

I could never stand wearing clothes washed in gasoline.

I guess people smoked back than too?

One hot ash than you have a suit fire.