Older Black Americans are about twice as likely as older white Americans to have Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, and geriatrician Sharon Brangman says the questions behind that gap are not about race. They are closer to this: can you get to a doctor, and can you get fresh groceries.
Brangman chairs the Department of Geriatrics at Upstate Medical University and directs its Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease. The twofold figure comes from the Alzheimer’s Association, and it largely disappears once overall health and socioeconomic status are accounted for.
Nearly one in 10 adults over 65 has dementia and another 22 percent have mild cognitive impairment, the stage between normal aging and dementia. Losing a word takes longer with age, and most people begin noticing in their 50s or 60s. The only fair comparison is a person’s own baseline.
She is blunt about what people buy as insurance. Crossword and word games have not been shown to improve memory or lower Alzheimer’s risk. Reading, music and other people in the room are the better use of an hour. “Turn on some music that you enjoy,” she said. “Get a book.”
On doing three things at once she is shorter still. “Multitasking makes you stupid,” she said, quoting a line she had read.
The signs worth a doctor’s time are the ones that interrupt a life: medications left unrefilled, getting lost on a familiar route, a change in how somebody dresses or keeps clean.
