Wrong Zip Code Can Signal Shorter Life Expectancy

The Treme neighborhood is only a few miles from the Lakeview neighborhood in New Orleans, but in terms of life expectancy those few miles might as well be worlds away.

While residents in Lakeview have a life expectancy of approximately 80 years, which is slightly more than the U.S. average of 79 years, the life expectancy for Treme residents is only 54.5 years, which is lower than the life expectancy in Cambodia, Gabon or Guinea.

A series of maps recently released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest U.S. philanthropy organization devoted to public health, was designed to draw attention to the fact that, in many cities, different neighborhoods can have vastly different life expectancies, some on par with the life expectancies of developing countries.

In addition to New Orleans, the foundation also released maps for Washington, D.C., San Joaquin Valley, Calif., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., and Kansas City, Mo.

For Washington, different metro stops corresponded to the different life expectancies, while in San Joaquin, living off the right exit meant getting a few extra years.

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However, New Orleans had the most significant difference in life expectancies.

Andre Perry, dean of urban education at Davenport University, compiled data on the social factors that determine health in New Orleans neighborhoods as the team leader of the Orleans Parish Place Matters team. The team was part of an initiative created by the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies.

Perry said the team looked a variety of factors including poverty, education and violence, and how they affect life outcomes.

"I always say people are not genetically disposed to live 25 years less," said Perry. "You should not live a mile away and have a 20-something-year advantage on your life."

However, Perry said the team found no one factor that was the main reason for lower life expectancy in some neighborhoods.

"It's the constant exposure to crime, to processed foods, to low-performing schools, to stress, to violence, to all of these factors. [They] compound and have a dramatic effect on your body," said Perry. "There's a physiological response to these sociological issues."

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According to calculations from the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Human Needs, residents in the 70112 zip code, which includes the Treme neighborhood, had the highest rates of cardiovascular mortality, stroke mortality, and diabetes mortality. It was also the poorest zip code in the city, with the third largest population of people over 25 without a high school diploma.

Dr. Steve Woolf, a physician and director of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Center on Society and Health, helped with research for the different maps. Woolf said that the staggering differentiations in life expectancy were not limited to New Orleans, but all large American cities.

"[There are] many cities around the country where life expectancy is comparable to developing countries," said Woolf. "The New Orleans example is very dramatic but it's happening all across the country."

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'Normal' Memory Slips May Signal Alzheimer's

 

Memory problems that are often dismissed as a normal part of aging may not be so harmless after all.

Noticing you have had a decline beyond the occasional misplaced car keys or forgotten name could be the very earliest sign of Alzheimer's, several research teams are reporting.

Doctors often regard people who complain that their memory is slipping as "the worried well," but the new studies show they may well have reason to worry, said Maria Carrillo, a senior scientist at the Alzheimer's Association.

One study found that self-reported memory changes preceded broader mental decline by about six years. Another tied these changes to evidence on brain scans that dementia is setting in.

"Maybe these people know something about themselves" that their doctors don't, "and maybe we should pay attention to them," said Dorene Rentz, a Massachusetts General Hospital psychologist. She helped run one of the studies, which were discussed Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Boston.

About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer's disease is the most common type. It causes a slow decline in thinking and reasoning ability. Memory trouble that disrupts daily life is one symptom.

Don't panic, though: The researchers are not talking about "senior moments," those small, temporary lapses most everyone has, said Creighton Phelps, a neuroscientist with the U.S. National Institute on Aging. They are talking about real memory loss, in which the information doesn't come back to you later, not even when people remind you of what you forgot, he explained.

A true decline is a change in your normal pattern. "You're starting to forget things now that you normally didn't — doctor appointments, luncheon engagements, the kids are coming over ... things that a year or two ago you wouldn't," said Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

Pati Hoffman, of Carol Stream, Ill., near Chicago, used to design menus and organize events for restaurants but began forgetting where she filed things in her computer.

"I really just kind of started struggling. Something wasn't right. I would have to bring my work home, spread it all over the floor, sort it and then try to get it done so that nobody at work would know I was having this difficulty," she said. Driving to familiar places, "I would think, 'I know where I am, but I don't know how to get out of here.'"

Two neurologists said it was just stress and anxiety, and one prescribed an antidepressant. A third finally diagnosed her with early-onset Alzheimer's disease four years ago. She was 56.

The new studies were on "subjective cognitive decline" — when people first notice they are having trouble, even if they test normal on mental ability tests:

— Richard Kryscio at the University of Kentucky led a study of 531 people, average age 73. Those who reported a change in memory or thinking abilities since their last doctor visit were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment about six to nine years later.

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