ABSTRACT
Chronic diseases of aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVD), have enormous impacts on quality of life for patients and their families and also have major societal and economic impacts. The older population at risk for developing these diseases has been growing at a rapid rate, and this growth has been especially rapid in minority groups in general and in Hispanic populations in particular. While the prevalence of dementia in ethnic minority populations has not been well studied, there is some evidence of increased dementia prevalence in community-dwelling Hispanics compared with Caucasians (Gurland et al., 1999; Tang et al., 2001). Absent dramatically improved prophylactic therapies, increased longevity in the general population and in minority groups will result in a corresponding increase in the number of persons with AD and other dementias. As a result, the social and economic costs of dementia will be magnified.
