How Much Are Known Factors Correlated with Higher Risk of Alzheimer’s in African Americans Over the Age of 65 Compared to Other Ethnicities Over the Age of 65?

by

by : 
Emily W.

Summary

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are the 7th leading cause of death in the world. Specifically, Alzheimer’s disease is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects millions worldwide. Yet, one thing that scientists do not completely understand is why Alzheimer’s is especially prevalent in elderly African American populations. Current research suggests that African Americans could have a higher risk of developing the disease due to the varied physical manifestations of the disease in different races and socioeconomic factors, but it has been difficult to obtain more information because previous research studies have excluded African American and other minority populations from data. Because of this, minority communities, especially African American communities, still suffer from a disproportionately high rate of Alzheimer’s. The inquiry approach for this research is correlational research, which will be used to study how much known factors are correlated with higher risk of Alzheimer’s in African Americans over the age of 65 compared to other ethnicities over the age of 65. Using data from the NACC database that includes information about sociodemographics, family history, dementia history, neurological exam findings, the APOE genotype, clinical diagnoses, and more, statistical analysis will be performed.