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Time4TAon May 29, 2011 4:10pm
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RE: RE: CHINA
RE: RE: CHINA
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/world/asia/13shanghai.html
THE VANISHING MIND
The shift in attitudes is remarkable. A decade ago, many families were ashamed to admit that their elders had such a disease. And because of a lack of awareness about the disease, many dementia patients were confined to the psychiatric wards of hospitals, which placed steel bars over the windows.
But today, a growing number of families are desperate to place relatives in a nursing home. The problem, health experts say, is that there simply are not enough.
Health experts are predicting severe strains on the state and on working families here. And those strains could be compounded by the lack of awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, even among medical professionals in China.
“This is an impending health crisis for China, and it may even exceed what’s happening in the U.S. because of the one-child policy,” said Rhoda Au, an associate professor at theBoston University School of Medicine.
Worries about the growing ranks of the elderly are amplified by what is being dubbed the 4-2-1 problem. In part because of the one-child policy, soon a single person in China will be expected to help support two parents and four grandparents. And as the elderly live longer, they are more likely to develop dementia, which requires expensive care.