How your status, where you live, and your family background affect your risk of dementia

As part of the series Unfavorable cycle, With the support of a charitable grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation, publishes three articles on social determinants of health. They investigate how factors such as income, place of residence, and background affect the risk of cancer, dementia, and heart disease.

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By 2050 World Health Organization It is estimated that 1 in 5 people will be over 60 years old.In Australia, due to the rapid aging of the population, the number of people with dementia would be without substantial medical progress. double From 487,600 in 2022 to 1.1 million by 2058.

Great efforts have been made to understand what increases the risk of dementia. Here we consider three factors: socio-economic status, place of residence, and background, and how they affect the risk of dementia.

How your socio-economic status affects your risk of dementia

When assessing socio-economic status, researchers usually look at your income, years of education, and occupational combination. Socio-economic status refers to the ability to access resources such as health, information and services.

Socio-economic status is closely associated with a variety of health disorders, and dementia is no exception. the study Across Multiple countries People with high socioeconomic status have been shown to be less likely to develop dementia.

This is not surprising. People with high socio-economic status are more likely to have the financial resources to access better health care, better education and better nutrition. They are also more likely to live in areas with more services that enable a healthy lifestyle.

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read more:
Your salary, zip code, parents affect your risk of heart disease

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where you live

My research team When others It shows the socio-economic status of the neighborhood. Indicators that integrate neighborhood average household income, unemployment rate, vocational skills, housing placement, etc. are associated with poor memory and an increased risk of dementia.

Understanding this is complicated. Various economic, social and environmental factors affect our behavior, which can affect our health. the study It suggests that the community can help reduce the risk of dementia in three main ways.

The first is to encourage social participation and inclusion. This can be achieved through programs that improve digital and technology literacy, social housing (increasing opportunities for socialization), and neighborhood support.

The second is due to improved accessibility and access to health care, social and cultural events in particular.

The third is to improve recreational and welfare facilities, such as emphasizing road safety, improving walkability and access to urban green spaces and promoting outdoor physical activity.

Your background

Some studies Parental education suggests that it is associated with an individual’s risk of dementia. Specifically, poor mother education results in poor memory and an increased risk of dementia.However, these effects Is smallAnd adult education and socio-economic status may overcome these disadvantages.

Current evidence Immigrants from Africa and Asia (to Europe) also suggest an increased risk of dementia compared to native Europeans. However, the prevalence of dementia in African and Asian countries is not higher than in European countries. Rather, we find that groups of people who are culturally and linguistically diverse are at increased risk of dementia as well. Nonimmigrant..

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read more:
Who you are and where you live affects your chances of getting cancer and surviving it.

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Part of this is due to reduced access to quality education, health care, and health information for these groups. For immigrants, there is the additional challenge of navigating the healthcare system in a language other than their native language.

Another important part to consider Potential bias The tool needs to evaluate memory and thinking. These tests were developed primarily in English for use in European countries. When tested in a second language, it does not reflect true cognitive ability and can lead to poor performance that reflects poor English proficiency.

For this reason, it is highly possible to do more research to understand dementia and its risk factors in culturally and linguistically diverse populations using appropriate and validated tools for these groups. It is important.

Dealing with dementia requires a lifelong approach

Undoubtedly, your salary, zip code and parents are very interrelated. Your future income is highly related to your parents’ income level. Your zip code can be determined by your salary. The cyclical nature of wealth, or inequality, is part of the reason why it is so difficult to deal with health inequalities.

Study on Social mobility – The individual’s ability to move from one socio-economic class to another – has shown that upward mobility may only partially compensate for the disadvantages early in life. This actually brings back the message that a lifelong approach is needed to address the risk of dementia. And that intervention is needed at the individual and broader social levels.

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If you want to learn how to reduce your risk of dementia by changing your health behavior, join us. Better Brains Trial.. We are actively recruiting Australians aged 40-70 with a family history of dementia.