California has the most older adults with Alzheimer’s disease, a new study finds
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, July 27.
Nearly 6 million Californians are 65 and older. As we age, our risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease grows. And in a new report from the Alzheimer’s Assn., researchers project cases in California will climb more than 20% between 2020 and 2025.
The study, shared at the 2023 Alzheimer’s Assn. International Conference in Amsterdam last week, provides a first-of-its-kind estimate of the prevalence and overall number of people living with the disease, at both the state and county levels.
Researchers estimated 720,000 people in California live with Alzheimer’s disease dementia, more than in any other U.S. state. In terms of prevalence — defined by researchers as “the number and proportion of people in a population who have Alzheimer’s dementia at a given point in time” — the state ranks fourth.
Four counties in Southern California ranked among the highest in the nation in terms of either total people with or prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease.
Los Angeles County topped the total number list, with about 190,000 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to the report. San Diego and Orange counties also ranked in the top ten of U.S. counties with the most people living with the disorder, each with around 58,000 people.
Looking at the prevalence of the disease in people 65 and older, Imperial County was ninth in the U.S., at 15%.
Researchers also note that Alzheimer’s does not land equitably across different communities, as Times reporter Vanessa Arredondo wrote:
“Black and Latino older adults are at an increased risk for Alzheimer’s because of disparities in healthcare. According to the report, 19% of Black and 14% of Latino adults over 65 have the disorder, compared with 10% of older white adults.”
Dr. Kumar Rajan, director of the Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and an author of the study, said the goal of this study “is to give public health resources to officials who can use this information to design better programs for their communities.”
He told me California’s place as the state with the highest number of people with Alzheimer’s was “a little surprising,” given that the state didn’t rank as high by prevalence. But there were two key factors behind the high numbers, he explained: the state’s large Latino population, and the fact that nearly 13% of all people in the U.S. over age 85 live in the Golden State.
One potential factor came to my mind: the high levels of air pollution Southern Californians live with. The Greater Los Angeles area ranks the absolute worst in the nation for ozone pollution and fourth worst for year-round particle pollution, according to this year’s State of the Air report from the American Lung Assn.
A recent Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health meta-analysis looked at the links between air pollution and dementia.
“The researchers noted that air pollution’s estimated association with risk of dementia is smaller than that of other risk factors, such as education and smoking,” Harvard officials wrote in a news release. “However, because of the number of people exposed to air pollution, the population-level health implications could be substantial.”
I asked Rajan about air pollution’s possible effect on dementia in California. He said that although there are some data “suggesting that air pollution or environmental exposures in general are associated with higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” researchers still have a lot of work to do at the county level before they can make more evidence-based conclusions.
That’s part of the work Rajan and fellow researchers are taking on next, in an effort “to understand in each of these counties, what are the factors that actually [put people] at higher risk beyond these demographic characteristics of being Hispanic or being older.”
“We will have some interesting information in maybe a year or two,” he said, adding that researchers hope to make the data available as a public resource so people can better understand and assess their risk factors.
So what can Californians (and everyone else) do to reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s dementia as we age? Rajan summed it up:
“Alzheimer’s disease is highly multi-factorial. It’s really important to have a healthy lifestyle. Be physically active, be socially active, be cognitively active. And have a better, nutritious diet. I think those are factors that will generally help you — not just for Alzheimer’s disease, but also for cardiovascular and other health outcomes.”
And now, here’s what’s happening across California:
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L.A. STORIES
Phone calls at all L.A. County jails are slated to be free by Dec. 1. The deadline was set in a unanimous vote by the county’s Board of Supervisors in an effort to take the financial burden off inmates and their families, who are disproportionately poor and disproportionately people of color. Los Angeles Times
Fire crews continued their work to contain a trio of large brush fires burning in Southern California. Along with blazes in the Santa Clarita Valley, a fire broke out in the Santa Monica Mountains, quickly scorching 70 acres. Los Angeles Times
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
With the Hollywood entertainment engine effectively stalled amid a historic joint strike, California Democrats are putting pressure on the big studios. Dozens of the state’s congressional representatives signed a letter to the presidents of SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers they’re striking against, urging “all parties to respect and affirm collective bargaining rights as these employees negotiate with their employers.” Los Angeles Times
CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING
A 36-year-old murder finally has a suspect. Fresno police arrested a 71-year-old registered sex offender this week in the 1987 fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Jacqueline Denise Henry. Investigators say DNA obtained from Carl Eugene Sears matched that of the probable killer. Los Angeles Times
Eight family members face multiple criminal charges for allegedly defrauding millions from California by recycling aluminum cans and plastic bottles smuggled from out of state. Prosecutors said the suspects transported 178 tons of cans and bottles from Arizona — containers that had not been subject to California’s recycling program tax, which adds another 5 or 10 cents to each container to subsidize the redemption value when those containers are brought to recycling centers (and this isn’t the first scheme like this). Los Angeles Times
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HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Babies and young toddlers are especially vulnerable on hot days. Here are some tips for how to spot signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke in young children and keep them safe during heat waves. Los Angeles Times
Residents with health insurance sold through Covered California can expect their premiums to increase by nearly 10% next year. Experts say the hike — the first since 2018 — signals the return of runaway healthcare costs. CalMatters
To bolster efforts to preserve groundwater and better protect against wildfires, California is enlisting an all-natural solution: beavers. The water-loving, tree-chomping rodents had long been viewed as a nuisance to property owners, but a recent state policy seeks to reduce the number of permits issued allowing their killing. California is instead opting for other mitigation or relocating beavers to areas where their construction projects will be more beneficial. Associated Press
CALIFORNIA CULTURE
Disneyland’s long-running “Fantasmic” show won’t return to the Anaheim theme park until spring 2024, according to officials. And when it does, it’ll be missing its centerpiece: the massive animatronic dragon that Mickey Mouse defeats to wrap up the show. The show has been on hiatus since April, when the fire-breathing dragon burst into flames. Orange County Register
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AND FINALLY
Today’s California landmark is from Doug Kiel of Sonora: Yosemite Valley, which Doug calls “one of the most iconic views in the world, not just California.”
What are California’s essential landmarks? Fill out this form to send us your photos of a special spot in California — natural or human-made. Tell us why it’s interesting and what makes it a symbol of life in the Golden State. Please be sure to include only photos taken directly by you. Your submission could be featured in a future edition of the newsletter.
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