65 years of age seems common practice amongst most Western (developed) countries to apply a diagnoses of 'Dementia'. Prior to 65 years of age, the term 'Younger-onset Dementia' seems to be common.
If '65' years of age was used, due to 65 being a common retirement age amongst most Western (developed) nations, could this mean the age of recognised/accepted diagnosis of Dementia may change in line with current and proposed age of retirement proposals. i.e, Australia is moving from 65 to 67 years of age for retirement and propose to move the age of retirement to 70.
With retirements moving above 65, can one imagine the potential impacts to a business, society and/or 'Person', as the result of the changing age of retirement (self funded/government supported), being diagnosed with dementia at 65 and due to the expectation of 'Person' having to work until: 67, 68, 69, 70.
I foresee the landscapes of workplace, society and home will change...and maybe not for the better.
Hi Karl
I think this is an interesting question indeed. I would agree with Marisol to the extent that dementia pathology is dementia pathology, and will not change because of the changing age of retirement and prolonged working life.
However, with people (mostly in the Western world) working longer into old age, potentially the occurrence of dementia may be impacted upon, thus, environmental influences MAY contribute to the rates of dementia diagnosis. Now, I am merely basing this on the fact that staying active for longer, be that working in a supermarket or being an architect, may somewhat contribute to the extent of the cognitive reserve (for a definition of cognitive reserve see Yakuv Stern's papers!) of a person. But then again, this can also be influenced by staying cognitively fit in own's spare time.
So, overall, I don't think that the dementia diagnosis will change as such.
Hope that helps
Clarissa
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