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Elderly Chinese Prone to Dementia: Study
Two studies in China have both proved that elderly Chinese are prone to senile dementia, challenging previous opinions that China was at low risk for age- related disease.
A study involving 2,788 people over age 60 found that 208 people suffered from senile dementia, an incidence rate of 7.5 percent. Leading risk factors were advanced age, poor educational backgrounds and hardships associated with living in rural areas.
The incidence rate of the surveyed women hit 9.7 percent, compared with 5.8 percent of the men, according to the research conducted by the Beijing Medical Research Center of Gerontology.
Another study among 1,728 retirees in Beijing also indicated that a family history of dementia, experience of persecution during China's Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), exposure to electromagnetic fields, and brain trauma could also cause senile dementia.
A report in today's Health News estimated that there might be three million dementia patients among senior citizens in China at present.
Chinese researchers are adopting traditional Chinese medicines and acupuncture to treat the disease, the report said.
China, the world's most populous country, is now graying. Demographers estimate that there will be 130 million people age 60 or above in the country this year, and by the middle of the next century the number will reach 400 million, making up more than 25 percent of the whole population.
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