“Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure. But the mind and will of the Black Captain were bent wholly on the falling city, and as yet no tidings came to him warning that his designs held any flaw.”
From “The Return of the King”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
The data below is part of a much larger study, which I’m working on. But I’ve already gained metric proof that greater access to the internet and increased internet use drive increased dementia.
I’m looking forward to juxtaposing it against the metric data I’ve already gathered that shows higher smartphone penetration maps against higher suicide rates, and lower smartphone penetration maps against lower suicide rates.
I think it’s important to note for the record that I compiled this in my spare time while working a full time job and in the midst of my successful move back to the Island of Oahu.
Dementia increased 17.5% internationally from 2015 to 2020, from 49.92 million to 58.66 million.
We can all agree that some common driver is causing that steeply-increasing rate of dementia, regardless of the nation.
We know that the purportedly-harmless non-ionizing radiation emanated by what we collectively refer to as “technology” causes the blood brain barrier to leak, which in turn hinders the clearing of the amyloid plaques that lead to what is known as Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia.
For the study that follows, I used World Health Organization dementia data to analyze dementia increases worldwide, and then looked for the highest and lowest rates of dementia in regions that were fairly similar to one another in terms of location and population demographics. Then I calculated the difference between those rates of increase.
Then I researched smartphone penetration, internet penetration, and social media penetration in those pairs of regions that were relatively close to one another geographically and demographically, and yet had widely-varying rates of increases in dementia, and I compared those percentages.
Then I compared internet access (social media and internet penetration) and internet use (social media penetration) in those regions to the variance in dementia between those regions.
WESTERN EUROPE VS. EASTERN EUROPE
Dementia in Europe increased 10% from 2015 to 2020, from 11.55 million to 12.71 million.
The smallest increase was in Eastern Europe, where dementia increased 3.4% from 2015 to 2020. Eastern Europe, as defined by the United Nations Statistics Division, includes the countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, and Slovakia, as well as the republics of Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine.
While the greatest increase was in Western Europe, where dementia increased 11.9% from 2015 to 2020. Western Europe comprises the countries of Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Western Europe’s 11.9% increase is 19% greater than the 10% increase seen across Europe as a whole.
The 11.3% increase in dementia in Western Europe from 2015 to 2020 was 232% higher, or well over triple the 3.4% increase in dementia in Eastern Europe during the same time period.
Access to the internet (smartphone penetration, internet penetration) is 40.2% greater in Western Europe than it is in Eastern Europe.
Social media penetration is 3.6% greater in Western Europe than it is in Eastern Europe.
SOUTHEAST ASIA VS. CENTRAL ASIA
Dementia in Asia increased 20.3% from 2015 to 2020, from 24.28 million to 29.23 million.
The smallest increase was in Central Asia, where dementia increased 9% from 2015 to 2020. The Central Asia region (CA) comprises the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
While the greatest increase was in Southeast Asia, where dementia increased 21.4% from 2015 to 2020. Southeast Asia is composed of eleven countries: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The 21.4% increase in dementia in Southeast Asia from 2015 to 2020 was 137% greater, or well more than double the 9% increase in dementia in Central Asia from 2015 to 2020.
Access to the Internet (smartphone penetration, internet penetration) is 42.8% greater in Southeast Asia than that in Central Asia.
Internet use (social media penetration) in Southeast Asia is 62.7% greater than that in Central Asia.
TROPICAL LATIN AMERICA VS. SOUTHERN LATIN AMERICA
Dementia in the Americas increased 18.7% from 2015 to 2020, from 9.62 million to 11.42 million.
The smallest increase in dementia was in Southern Latin America, where dementia increased 15.5% from 2015 to 2020, from 0.90 million to 1.04 million. The Southern Latin America region comprises the countries of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
While the greatest increase in dementia was in Tropical Latin America, where dementia increased 26.6% from 2015 to 2020, from 1.69 million to 2.14 million. The Tropical Latin America region comprises the countries of French Guyana, Suriname, and Guyana.
The 26.6% increase in dementia in Tropical Latin America 2015 to 2020 was 72% greater, or heading toward double the 15.5% increase in dementia in Southern Latin America during the same time period.
Access to the internet (smartphone penetration, internet penetration) is 41% greater in tropical Latin American than it is in Southern Latin America.
Internet use (social media penetration) in tropical Latin America is 9.7% greater than it is in Southern Latin America.
DISCUSSION
Greater access to the internet and increased internet use are drivers of increased dementia.
More granular data will prove the exact degree to which that is the case.
