Britons of black and south Asian origin with dementia die younger, study finds

By Denis Campbell, The Guardian

UK medical records over 21 years show both groups survived less time after diagnosis than white counterparts

Britons of black and south Asian origin with dementia die younger and sooner after being diagnosed than white people, research has found.

South Asian people die 2.97 years younger and black people 2.66 years younger than their white counterparts, according to a study by academics from University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

A team led by Dr Naaheed Mukadam, from UCL’s division of psychiatry, reached their conclusions after studying health records covering the 21 years between 1997 and 2018 of 662,882 people across the UK who were aged over 65.

It was the first study to investigate the incidence and prevalence of dementia, as well as age of diagnosis, survival and age of death, across white, black and south Asian ethnic groups using electronic records kept by GP surgery and hospital staff.

They found that:

•  Dementia rates have increased across all ethnic groups.
•  Black people are 22% more likely to get dementia than their white peers.
•  Dementia is 17% less common among those of south Asian background.

But they have voiced concern about also discovering that south Asian and black people are diagnosed younger, survive for less time and die younger than white people.

Read more about this study.

American health disparities aren’t much better, with Black people dying from stroke and pollution more than white people.

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