The proportion of people in the England and Wales with dementia has declined by 25 percent over the past twenty years according to a new study.
The study, published in The Lancet, examined 15,000 random people 65 and older and found that the rate of dementia declined from 8.3 percent in 1994 to 6.2 percent today.
In a similar study also published in The Lancet, Danish researchers found that 90-year-olds tested for mental ability in 2010 did substantially better than their peers did in 2000.
Together the two studies confirm what many researchers on aging believe but have been unable to prove, namely, that there is a connection between health, education and mental acuity.
According to the long-held but never proved theory, as societies become healthier and better educated — as has happened in the UK and Denmark — dementia rates will fall.
The studies published Tuesday are the most conclusive evidence yet that the connection is real, but doctors are still cautious in proclaiming too large of a victory in the war against dementia.
Dr. Kaare Christensen of the University of Southern Denmark who published the Danish study said, “With these two studies, we are beginning to see that more and more of us will have a chance to reach old age cognitively intact — postponing dementia or avoiding it altogether. That is a happy prospect.”