Baltimore City is tied for the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease in any jurisdiction in the nation, and Maryland is also the state with the highest instance of the illness.

That’s according to a new study from the Alzheimer’s Association’s online journal, which found Baltimore shared the top spot with Miami-Dade County in Florida and the Bronx in New York City.

Maryland also held the top position for the highest rate of Alzheimer’s compared to any other state.

The study, which looked at more than 3,100 jurisdictions, found that 16.6% of the nearly 88,000 people over 65 living in Baltimore suffer from the disease.

Megeen White, a medical research champion for the Alzheimer's Association Greater Maryland Chapter, said the study is one of the most in-depth looks at where the disease is hitting local communities.

“The study just confirms that, yes, that it is a health crisis in our community, we need to address it as such,” White said. “We need to make sure that there is enough awareness, education and support for all involved, but especially for those over 65.”

White said there are multiple risk factors compounding in Baltimore that may make the rates so high.

“We don't know all the facts, there's still a lot of ongoing research in these populations,” she said. “However, we know that cardiovascular diseases negatively impact brain health.”

The disease is twice as likely to affect Black people, which make up a majority of Baltimore city.

“That study found that most likely those both personal and systemic experiences of racism do increase an individual's risk of Alzheimer's or other dementia,” White said. “That could be potentially due to the increased stress levels in the body.”

Maryland is taking some action to stem dementia and provide care.

The state passed a law this year for better access to in-home care services to people with dementia.

“This legislation provides gap filling services to caregivers whose loved ones are at risk of going into more costly nursing homes,” said Eric Colchamiro, the director of government affairs for the Greater Maryland Alzheimer's Association. “It allows them to age in place. It allows them to give them funds to age in place. And they age in place for on average, four years to seven years longer than people who don't receive those funds.”

The Food and Drug Administration approved Lecanemab, a drug that treats Alzheimer’s Disease, earlier this month.

“Alzheimer’s disease immeasurably incapacitates the lives of those who suffer from it and has devastating effects on their loved ones,” said Billy Dunn, M.D., director of the Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease.”

The FDA is likely to approve more drugs treating Alzheimer’s Disease later this year.