A new study found that boomers may be seeing a declining level of cognitive functioning compared with previous generations, which could put them at greater risk of dementia than their parents and grandparents. We have all seen the number of Alzheimer’s cases skyrocket in recent years, a very sad phenomenon. Regular readers of my blog know that both my father and grandfather died of the disease and for years I was a big fundraiser for the local Monterey chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. The new study, which was published in the Journals of Gerontology, studied over 30,000 people in the University of Michigan’s “Health and Retirement Study” which followed people from 1996 to 2014. It found that many baby boomers started to show lower cognitive functioning as early as ages 50 to 54. Lower household wealth, less likelihood of marriage, higher levels of loneliness, depression and psychiatric problems and an increase in cardiovascular risk factors like obesity, physical inactivity and diabetes were major factors.
