Blacks and Hispanics Highest Risk for Alzheimer's

This Business Week article reports on an Alzheimer's Association study that shows that over 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, and blacks and Hispanics are at highest risk of developing the disease.

The report, 2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures finds that black Americans are about two times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than whites, and Hispanics face about 1.5 times the risk.

Much of the increase in Alzheimer's is because of increasing high blood pressure and diabetes, which increase the odds of developing Alzheimer's in all populations but is particularly acute in minority populations. These are preventable conditions and we all need to educate the public about them because they are systemic to future health conditions, Alzheimers not to mention what they are costing the health care system.