(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, July 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease picks up from the age of 69 in South Korea, a study showed Sunday.
Researchers at Gangnam Severance Hospital analyzed the current state of Alzheimer’s incidence among the South Korean population over 40 years of age during the period from 2006 to 2015 using big data from the National Health Insurance Service.
It was found that the number of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s shot up to 15.75 per 1,000 in 2015, an almost fivefold increase from 3.17 in 2006.
For those in their 80s, the Alzheimer’s rate stood at 1.46 per 1,000 in 2006 but jumped to 6.88 in 2015, 4.71 times higher than the figure marked in 2006.
For those in their 70s and 60s, the number of individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s also increased significantly, from 1.00 to 2.54 and 0.25 to 0.46, respectively, during the same period.
In particular, the number of individuals with Alzheimer’s among those with diabetes stood at 2.90 and 6.48 per 1,000, respectively, in 2006 and 2015, far exceeding the 1.69 and 4.93 reported for the non-diabetic group.
Of special note, the standard age for diagnosing Alzheimer’s in South Korea was analyzed at 69 years old, indicating that the number of Alzheimer’s diagnoses picks up from the age of 69.
“Unlike advanced countries such as those in Europe and the U.S. that are reporting a gradual decline in the Alzheimer’s incidence rate, South Korea is still seeing an increase in the number of such cases,” said Kim Han-Kyul, a professor of neurology at Gangnam Severance Hospital.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
