Veterans have a higher risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease than civilians who have never served in the military, according to a new report.
An UsAgainstAlzheimer's analysis found that half of veterans who are 65 years or older are at risk of getting Alzheimer's, compared to 15 percent of the general population in that age bracket.
Other key findings in the report:
- Older veterans (65 years or older) who have suffered a traumatic brain injury are 60 percent more likely to be afflicted with dementia than civilians.
- About 420,000 veterans will have developed Alzheimer's between 2010 and 2020.
- Roughly one-third of new Alzheimer's cases can be attributed to injuries suffered during military service.
UsAgainstAlzheimer's is starting a national network of veterans and their families, military leaders, and healthcare professionals called VeteransAgainstAlzheimer's to help bring awareness to the correlation between military service and the deadly disease.
A separate analysis, meanwhile, found that the overall rates of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia have dropped over the last decade.
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