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If you look at the latest stats, you might assume there\\u2019s no cognitive health crisis.\\xa0The overall number of\\xa0dementia cases are going up, but that\\u2019s because the aging population is growing.\\xa0Older folks are living longer than ever before, so there are more people around who can develop dementia. Dementia and Alzheimer\\u2019s rates are dropping in the Western world. Politicians, those archetypical paragons of cognitive aptitude, are hanging around in office longer than ever. Technology, science, and other fields that require large amounts of cognitive\\xa0ability are progressing.

But broad trends and large numbers are just statistics. However reassuring they are to public policy analysts, they mean nothing to the individual suffering from cognitive decline. They\\u2019re too abstract. Your grandpa no longer knowing who you are? That\\u2019s real. You, personally, don\\u2019t want to lose your cognitive abilities as you age. You, personally, don\\u2019t want to see the people you love get Alzheimer\\u2019s. Individual cases matter to those individuals and their loved ones. And it\\u2019s still happening more than it should.

(This Mark\'s Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)