New Study: African Americans More Likely Than Any Other Race To Develop Alzheimer's Disease

African Americans and Hispanics are at a higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, but most shocking is the fact that blacks are more likely than any other race to develop the degenerative disease, according to a new study released by the Alzheimer's Association.

Older African Americans are nearly twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's than whites, and Hispanics are about 1.5 times more likely than whites to develop the disease, results show.

While it is unclear why the disease takes such a devastating toll on minorities, the report says conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes-both of which are known risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and dementia-are more common in older blacks and Hispanics than in whites and probably contribute to the prevalence among the groups.

"Likewise, lower levels of education and other socio-economic characteristics that are associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are more common in older African Americans and Hispanics than in older whites,'' the report says.

Further, minorities are unlikely to know they have the disease and fail to receive early treatment. Medication can be more helpful during the early phases of Alzheimer's and dementia when patients are more capable of making decisions and plans, according to a CNN news report.

In some cases, treatment isn't sought because family members choose to ignore symptoms out of respect, the article says. In low-income households, some families can't help but to ignore signs because they cannot afford to pay for around-the-clock care, unlike most middle-to-upper-class families that have health care beyond Medicaid. An estimated 11 million Americans provide 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care for loved ones.

The key for minorities is early intervention, which requires access health care for treatment of the disease. Below, the Alzheimer's Association lists 10 signs of the disease:

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, work or at leisure
4. Confusion with time or place
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
8. Decreased or poor judgment
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
10. Changes in mood or personality

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