Two groups of indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon have some of the world’s lowest dementia rates, and that may offer insight on how to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.
Researchers found only about 1% of older Tsimane and Moseten people have dementia, compared with 11% of people 65 and older in the United States.
Among those 60 and older, there were only five cases of dementia among 435 Tsimane people and just one case among 169 Moseten people, according to the study.
“Something about the pre-industrial subsistence lifestyle appears to protect older Tsimane and Moseten from dementia,” study author Margaret Gatz, a professor of psychology, gerontology and preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, said in a school news release.
Worldwide, the number of people with dementia is expected to triple, to more than 152 million by 2050.
“We’re in a race for solutions to the growing prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias,” said study co-author Hillard Kaplan, a professor of health economics and anthropology at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. Kaplan has studied the Tsimane for two decades.
“Looking at these diverse populations augments and accelerates our understanding of these diseases and generates new insights,” Kaplan said.
