Books

A New Model For Health And Disease – Page 163

Actually, the populations of communist countries are known for their lack of anxiety and their sense of boredom, as well as for their low productive output. But it is also a fact that they do have extensive health coverage. I am positive that if an in-depth survey is done in these countries, it will be found that many people go to the medical doctors in order to get sick leave from work; consequently, the physicians are forced to prescribe drugs for them. Maybe this is the reason why these countries have the highest rates of degenerative diseases, even higher than their "free-world" counterparts.
Another disease that has appeared lately as a classic example of a degenerative disorder of the mental plane is Alzheimer’s disease.
"It has been reported that about 4.4% of people over 65 display moderate to severe senile dementia, and that about 65% of these have Alzheimer’s disease: a prevalence rate greater than three per 1,000 of the whole population. Since the life expectancy of these patients is much reduced, over 100,000 deaths per year may be related to Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly." 14
"Estimates of the incidence of Alzheimer’s among patients over age 65 with organic dementia vary between 40% and 58%. Applying these figures to the United States, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in persons over 65 would be between 350,000 and 510,000 in 1970.
"The prevalence of severe dementia or organic psychosis, terms used to describe patients in whom, in addition to an intellectual deterioration, there was evidence of disorganization of the personality and inability to carry out the normal tasks of daily living, averaged 4.1%. Between 60,000 and 90,000 persons with senile dementia die each year, and these estimates do not take into account persons under age 65 or those within whom