15 per cent of Singaporean Chinese older than 60 have dementia: Study
August 2, 2013 Leave a comment
15 per cent of Chinese older than 60 have dementia: Study
Friday, Aug 02, 2013
The Straits Times
By Linette Lai
SINGAPORE – Three in 20 Chinese Singaporeans above the age of 60 suffer from cognitive impairment or dementia, according to a study conducted by the National University Health System (NUHS). Issues with poor brain function were found to increase with age, with close to half the participants over 80 years old suffering from some form of cognitive impairment. Before being diagnosed as suffering from full-blown dementia, many show symptoms that may go unrecognised and ignored, said Dr Mohammad Kamran Ikram, who co-authored the two-year study involving 1,226 participants. These symptoms include memory loss and difficulty in carrying out simple tasks like following recipes or keeping track of household bills. The study found those with diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure are most at risk of developing cognitive impairment problems. But associate professor Christopher Chen, director of the NUHS Memory, Aging & Cognition Centre, debunked the idea that being at risk guarantees the development of dementia in an individual. “Many people have the idea that it’s all due to age and there’s nothing that can be done about it,” he said. “You may have forgetfulness, but you can compensate and take steps to identify if you have these risk factors and halt progression.” Two separate studies on the prevalence of dementia in the Malay and Indian communities will be conducted, with the former slated to be completed by the end of this year.
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