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Older Native Americans may experience higher levels of cognitive impairment than previously thought

Researchers have found that 54% of older Native Americans have cognitive impairment, including 10% with dementia, highlighting a significant disparity with the rates of cognitive impairment and dementia in the general American population. The study also identified vascular injury, which can result from untreated hypertension and diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease as equally responsible contributors to dementia in Native Americans, with substantial overlaps between the two.