A study conducted by the Northern Territory Department of Health has shown that Aboriginal Australians are three times more likely to suffer from Dementia than the rest of the population.
The news has caused serious concerns among health professionals.
National research manager with Alzheimer’s Australia, Dr Chris Hatherly, told NITV the issue was wide-reaching.
"Well we know that theres a big problem with Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of dementia across the board in Australia," he said.
Mr Hatherly said the study's findings, released this week, showed Indigenous Australians were at a greater risk.
"What we found out from this study is that there’s about three times the number of Indigenous people with dementia as there is non-Indigenous," he said.
But, with little known about the Alzheimer's, treatment can be difficult.
"With dementia unfortunately we don't yet have any treatment," Mr Hatherly said.
He said the issue needed to be addressed now, before things got worse.
"We need to keep working toward that treatment - same way with cancer - we need to find new treatments, new drugs, new approaches to helping people who are diagnosed."
"We need to help people reduce their risk of getting these things."
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