Fears of Alzheimer’s explosion ‘overblown’, study finds

Fears of an Alzheimer’s explosion are unfounded, according to new research showing that dementia rates may be stabilising in the UK and other parts of Europe.

Scientists found that the proportion of British people aged 65 and above with dementia fell by more than a fifth in 2011 compared with what it was predicted to be a decade earlier.

Studies in other European countries show a similar trend. In Zaragoza, Spain, there was a 43% fall in the prevalence of dementia in men aged 65 and older between 1987 and 1996, and dementia incidence had also declined in Sweden and the Netherlands.