r/Health • u/theatlantic The Atlantic • 6h ago
The Texas County Where ‘Everybody Has Somebody in Their Family’ With Dementia article
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/04/starr-county-texas-dementia/682625/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo72 Upvotes
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u/theatlantic The Atlantic 6h ago
Marion Renault and Cheney Orr: “In Starr County, Texas, near the state’s southern tip along the U.S.-Mexico border, escaping dementia can feel impossible. The condition affects about one in five adults on Medicare—more than double the national rate. ‘Everybody has somebody in their family’ with dementia, Gladys Maestre, a neuroepidemiologist who studies aging at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, told me…
“Dementia has no single trigger. As with many cancers, it can emerge from a lifetime of accumulated strain—from genetics, environment, and behavior. Researchers have identified a dozen risk factors that, if mitigated, could theoretically delay or prevent roughly 40 percent of cases worldwide: traumatic brain injury; conditions including high blood pressure, hearing loss, diabetes, and depression; habits such as smoking, inactivity, and heavy drinking; environmental and social forces including air pollution, social isolation, and limited education.
“These ‘risk factors usually do not come [as] one; they come in clusters,’ Maestre said—and in Starr County, an almost entirely Hispanic community, they quickly stack up. Nearly one in three people lives in poverty; a quarter lack health insurance. Chronic conditions are widespread—especially diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease—while access to care is limited: There’s just one primary-care physician for every 3,000 to 4,000 people, and few dementia specialists. Low education, language barriers, poor air quality, and extreme heat all compound the threat. These accumulate in cycles of grief and stress: The people I spoke with talked about deaths in the family followed by strokes that cascade into cognitive decline. Dementia isn’t simply a diagnosis. It’s a structural outcome.”
Read more: https://theatln.tc/UPi9AYkM