The latest investigative report on dementia in Taiwan showed that the prevalence of the disease among those aged 65 and older stands at 7.99 percent, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said.
Department of Long-Term Care deputy Director-General Wu Hsi-wen (吳希文) said late last month that the ministry launched the investigation because the nation would officially meet the definition of a hyper-aged society — one out of every five people aged 65 or older — as of this year.
The ministry took samples based on household registration data and doctors’ house-call information on elderly people nationwide between 2020 and last year.
The ministry said the newest results were similar to the findings from a Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association study conducted in 2011.
The study showed that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s in people aged 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79 and 80 to 84 was 2.4 percent, 5.16 percent, 9.1 percent, 16 percent and 23.23 percent respectively, showing a positive correlation between age and the chance of developing Alzheimer’s.
The most recent study showed that Alzheimer’s in women at 9.36 percent, which is higher than men’s 6.35 percent.
The study showed that the top three most common forms of dementia were Alzheimer’s disease at 56.88 percent, vascular dementia, which is caused when decreased blood flow damages brain tissue, at 22.91 percent and Parkinson’s disease, at 7.12 percent.
Wu said that the government estimated that about 350,000 people are registered as having dementia, adding that the nation could see 470,000 people with dementia by 2031 and 680,000 by 2041.
The study also investigated behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, Wu said, adding that the most common was depression at 33.37 percent, fear or anxiety at 27.75 percent, repetitive behavior at 25.34 percent and delusion at 21.19 percent.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,