an In The Media Appearance
"Senior's weakness for scams may be warning sign of dementia" - Associated Press. 04/15/2019
"Financial Scammers Often Prey on People With Early Dementia" - US News & World Report. 04/15/2019
"Financial scam victims have higher risk of Alzheimer's" - Reuters. 04/15/2019
New research suggests seniors who aren’t on guard against scams also might be at risk for eventually developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The study can’t prove a link between low scam awareness and impending decline in thinking and memory, cautioned Dr. Jason Karlawish of the University of Pennsylvania in an accompanying editorial.
Karlawish described one of his own patients who confessed to a grandson, “I think I’ve been had” by a lottery scam that persuaded him to pay taxes up-front so he could receive his purported winnings. It was just too hard to hang up on the polite caller. Three years later, that patient shows no sign of cognitive impairment, said Karlawish, who said he’s flummoxed by how the clever crooks managed to rob the man.
Still, the study results “should be a call to action to health care systems, the financial services industry and their regulators,” Karlawish wrote, urging further research into what he called “notable findings.”