Border counties in Texas rank amongst the highest in the nation for Alzheimer’s, and Latinos feel the effects almost twice as much as non-Hispanic white Americans. Researchers show that lack of access to health care, lack of education, lifestyle and diet can contribute to developing the disease. 

In July, the Alzheimer’s Association released county-level data for the first time, revealing an abnormally high prevalence of the disease along the Texas-Mexico border. The association estimates that in Presidio County, for example, 18.4% of people over the age of 65 have the disease.

Dr. Gladys Maestre has been working in Alzheimer’s research since 1988 and is the director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. She said one of the reasons Alzheimer’s is so prevalent in the region is the lack of access to insurance and quality care. As a result, many older adults cross the border into Mexico to seek help, according to Maestre.

“The Valley’s access to health care is very bad,” said Maestre. “Public engagement is critical, and the commitment to those that can improve the city and health care systems.”

Many of rural counties along the border exhibit social disparities that are associated with chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s, according to Dr. Silvia Mejia-Arango, assistant professor of neuroscience at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

“There’s a big need for research in that area,” Mejia-Arango said. “I am sure I will not be wrong if I think that they have more needs and they have less health care.”

Executive Director Greg Sciuto agrees. He has been with the Alzheimer’s Association San Antonio and South Texas Chapter for nine years. A higher rate of Alzheimer’s and dementia are found in underserved communities, according to Sciuto.

“The social determinants of health, access to proper health care and health care information is often lacking,” said Sciuto. “I think largely though, it’s the fact that our population is largely Hispanic, and that we don’t have the same levels of access to quality care that we do in other communities.”

The caregivers

The border is predominately Hispanic, and cultural practices, combined with long distances to healthcare facilities, result in many Alzheimer’s patients receiving care from family members. These family members need more support, Sciuto said.

Many patients prefer to be cared for by their families at home, and much of the of time the family members are not paid, Mejia-Arango’s research shows.

“Long term care is not as good as it should be,” Mejia-Arango said.

Joe Arciniega, who sits on the National Board of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association, was a caregiver for his father, who began showing signs of the disease in early 2010 but wasn’t diagnosed by a neurologist until the end of that year. Arciniega’s father died in 2015.  

Arciniega said the disease “deconstructs” the life of the person with Alzheimer’s and that of their family.

“It’s a pretty brutal experience by any measure,” Arciniega said.

Almost everyone from the association has a testimony and connection to the disease, including the public policy manager for the Alzheimer’s Association of San Antonio and South Texas, Chelsea Rangel. Advocates across the nation share their stories to raise awareness for those affected and caregivers who need support.

“You're joining a club that no one wants to be a part of, but you're in the club, and it's comforting to know that I'm not alone in this experience,” Rangel said. “It’s one of those diseases where since there’s no cure, you don’t know what’s ahead of you.”

Adriana Nunemaker, executive director of The University of Texas Education and Research Center at Laredo, got her start working in healthcare. With the lack of health care professionals in Laredo, and the lack of community education on caring for patients with Alzheimer’s, she said there needs to be a call to action.

“Knowing how devasting those numbers have been climbing, we have to be a resource,” Nunemaker said.

Funding for Alzheimer’s

One of the missions of the Alzheimer’s Association is to lobby state legislators for funding for disease. This year, the Texas Legislature increased funding from $1 million to $5.5 million for the state-run Alzheimer’s Disease Program to improve quality of care and support for those affected by dementia.  

A September conference in Laredo provided resources for caregivers, and many family members attended to learn ways to take care of their loved ones. Session topics ranged from occupational therapy and hospice care to financial planning and legal issues.

“We can help improve the quality of life of both the person caring for the loved one and the person with dementia at the same time,” said Sciuto of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Along with the funding for caregiver support, the association worked with the Legislature to mandate training for law enforcement with respect to dementia-related behaviors. Research funding at the National Institute of Health has also increased significantly in the past decade, according to public policy manager Rangel.

“From a human perspective, it’s like we know the numbers, people know the numbers. They’re  bad,” Rangel said. “If we can connect numbers to a person, to a face, to a family, to a whole community they’re more likely to remember that.”

Gabriella Alcorta is a journalism major at Texas State University and an intern for Texas Community Health News, a collaboration between the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the university's Translational Health Research Center. TCHN stories, reports and data visualizations are provided free to Texas newsrooms.