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Race, Gender, and Alzheimer’s Disease

“Women are statistically more likely than men to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. While 16 percent of women over 71 years old develop the degenerative brain disorder, only 11 percent of men of the same age are afflicted with it… Research also indicates that in the U.S. African-Americans are about twice as likely—and Hispanics one and a half times more likely—than older whites to get Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.  This is becoming a bigger concern than ever, as African-Americans and Hispanics will make up a larger proportion of the U.S. population over the next few decades.”

Proportion of Americans Aged 55 and Older with Cognitive Impairment, by Race/Ethnicity, Health and Retirement Study, 2006