ALZHEIMER’S STATISTICS

As per the recent reports of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it has been noted that death rates have declined for all the major illness like heart disease (down by 8%), breast cancer (down by 2.6%), prostate cancer (down by 6.3%) and stroke (down by 10.4%) over the period of 2000-2004. During the same time period, statistics showed that deaths from Alzheimer’s disease went up by 33%. This means that every 72 seconds another American is coming down with this disease. An aging population plus no effective cures or treatments makes this disease a crisis in health care for the 21st century.

Did you know that approximately 5.2 million American have Alzheimer’s disease? This number threatens to grow up to 14 million by 2050 if a proper cure or prevention is not found. This is more commonly found in the elder generation. It is estimated that one in eight persons over the age of 65 and nearly 50% of those over 85 suffer from Alzheimer’s. Even more stunning is the revelation that over 10 million Americans are caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia. It is overwhelming to know that in 2005, 8.5 billion hours is the time unpaid caregivers provided to people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients. For this purpose, more than half the states in United States have been providing more than a billion dollars in unpaid care each year. The direct and indirect costs add up to more than $148 billion annually.

Further reports show that 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s in their lifetime. Per reports, Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the US. This figure surpasses even the death rates for diabetes.

The death registered in USA due to Alzheimer’s is more than 50,000 per year. The average life lost from this disease is estimated to be around 6.8 years. According to a survey held in 1999 in USA, Alzheimer’s was the cause of 1.9% deaths for any ages, 2.3% deaths for age 75-84 years and 3.9% deaths for age 85 and above. The latest statistics received for 2004 show that Alzheimer’s is the cause of 65,829 deaths (22.4 per 100,000 populations). In November 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a prediction that by 2030, Alzheimer’s and other such dementias will be the third leading cause of debilitating illness. It also quoted that this will be the seventh largest cause of death by then in high-income countries across the world. Of the present 5.2 million people suffering from Alzheimer’s in USA, nearly 4.9 million are above the age of 65. The remaining group is only into the early stages of Alzheimer’s so far. Also Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia in USA and it accounts for 50-70% of the cases. Remember that what is good for your heart and body is good for your mind and brain. So take proper nutrition, dietary supplements and good exercises to keep the disease away.