Ethnicity and dementia

Asian women and men are 18% and 12% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia than white women and men.

The first nationwide study into how dementia affects different ethnic groups in the UK analysed data on more than 2.5 million people, including 66,000 diagnosed with dementia.

However, black people in Britain are more likely to get dementia than white people. Diagnosed cases were 28% higher for black than white men and 25% higher for black than white women.

Researchers from University College London believe both genes and environment account for the raised incidence among black people. Previous studies have suggested that a gene linked to dementia is more prevalent among black ethnic groups, and risk factors including smoking and depression have higher-thanaverage rates in black people.

The results for Asians are harder to explain, especially given that cardiovascular illness is common in this group. Researchers suspect the stigma of dementia makes some Asian people avoid seeking treatment, masking its true scale.