10/05/2022
To understand why dementia rates may decrease over time in Japan, MNT spoke with Dr. Hideki Hashimoto, DPH, a professor at the Department of Health and Social Behavior at the University of Tokyo, and a co-author of the study.
Dr. Hashimoto said that increasing educational attainment might be an important factor in explaining reduced dementia rates overall. He noted that, by 2035, over 60% of men would be college graduates. Meanwhile, in 2016, just 43% of men ages 55- 64 were college-educated.
He added that an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Adult Skills Survey published in 2013 found that those with high school diplomas in Japan have more work-relevant skills than college graduates in Europe and the US.
Dr. Hashimoto thus concludes that the ‘unique educational background change’ is likely a major contributor to his model’s results.
Preventing dementia
When asked how these results could inform other countries concerning dementia in an aging population, Dr. Kaiser told MNT that the findings highlight public health planning efforts to address modifiable risk factors across the lifespan.
“Experts believe that something on the order of 1 out of 3 cases of dementia could be prevented through addressing twelve “modifiable risk factors” for dementia (low education, hypertension, hearing impairment, smoking, midlife obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, social isolation, excessive alcohol consumption, head injury, and air pollution),” he explained.
“Likewise, along with population-level efforts to prevent dementia, a focus on early detection for earlier intervention could significantly mitigate the impact and extend healthy years. One of the greatest myths about Alzheimer’s disease (or other types of dementia) is that there’s “nothing we can do. [But there’s] nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.
“The wide range of modifiable risk factors noted, and even our relationships or levels of loneliness, can be addressed as part of a multimodal strategy in people with early cognitive changes that may delay the onset or severity of dementia symptoms,” he added.