Major Risk Factors For Dementia

Gender And Age

An individual's gender plays a role in their overall risk of developing dementia. Specifically, research shows females are more likely to develop dementia than males. According to a Dutch study, after ninety years old, women were at a higher risk of developing dementia when compared to men. Women who carry the ApoE4 gene are at a greater risk of developing dementia than men with the gene. Although dementia is not a normal part of aging, an individual's risk of developing memory loss increases when they turn sixty-five years old. Approximately five million Americans over sixty-five years old are living with dementia. According to the Alzheimer's Association reports, an individual's risk for developing Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years after they turn sixty-five years old.

The number of Americans living with dementia is expected to double within the next forty years. This is because the number of Americans over sixty-five will increase from forty million today to more than eighty-eight million in forty years. Surpassing eighty-five years old puts individuals at a fifty percent risk for developing dementia. With numbers like these, dementia does not seem like a young person's concern. But some individuals may experience dementia at a young age (this can be called early-onset Alzheimer's disease).