Blog Posts

Twenty Alzheimer’s Statistics, 10/25/14

by  • 
10/25/14
     Today for my, “Walk To End Alzheimer’s 5K” post, I am going to give you twenty (20) statistics about Alzheimer’s.  Some of these statistics cover the United, while others are world-wide.    
  • In the United States someone develops the disease every 67 seconds.*
  • There are more than 5 million Americans are living with the Alzheimer’s disease.*
  • The 6th leading cause of death in the United States is the Alzheimer’s disease.*
  • In seniors, 1 out of 3 die with either Dementia or the Alzheimer’s disease.*
  • Women make up two-thirds of those with Alzheimer’s.*
  • More than 60 percent of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers are women.*
  • More than 500,000 seniors die each year because they have Alzheimer’s.*
  • Alzheimer’s disease is the most expensive condition in the nation.*
  • The cost of caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementia’s is estimated to total $214 billion in 2014, increasing to $1.2 trillion (in today’s dollars) by mid-century.*
  • Nearly one in every three seniors who dies each year has Alzheimer’s or another dementia. *

  • 2014 Costs of Alzheimer’s =
    $214 Billion

  • In 2013, 15.5 million family and friends provided 17.7 billion hours of unpaid care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementia’s – care valued at $220.2 billion.*
  • Of Americans aged 65 and older, 1 in 9 has Alzheimer’s; 1 in 3 people aged 85 and older has the disease.*
  • Due to the physical and emotional toll of caregiving, Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers had $9.3 billion in additional health care costs of their own in 2013.**
  • Unless something is done, Alzheimer’s will cost an estimated $1.2 trillion (in today’s dollars) in 2050. Costs to Medicare and Medicaid will increase nearly 500 percent.*
  • In addition, in 2010, Alzheimer’s played some role in the deaths of 500,000 Americans. And, in 2014, an estimated 700,000 people will die with the disease, meaning they will die after having developed it.*
  • Deaths from Alzheimer’s increased 68 percent between 2000 and 2010, while deaths from other major diseases decreased.*
  • Change in Number of Deaths Between 2000 and 2010:
    • Breast Cancer       -2%
    • Prostate Cancer    -8%
    • Heart Disease      -16%
    • Stroke                  -23%
    • HIV                      -42%
    • Alzheimer’s         +68% *
  • Every four seconds, a new case of dementia occurs somewhere in the world.**
  • National Institutes of Health funding for HIV/AIDS research is 23 times the level of that for Alzheimer’s disease research. **
BONUS #21:
  • Cancer research is 12 times the level spent for Alzheimer’s disease research. Yet, there are 5 times as many Americans with Alzheimer’s than with HIV, and more people die each year in the United States from Alzheimer’s disease than from the two most commonly diagnosed types of cancer (breast and prostate) combined.

As you can see, Alzheimer’s is not a team player and unless someone finds or creates a cure it shows no signs of slowing down.  We need to keep pushing the federal government, private hospitals, etc.to continue working on a cure for the dreaded disease.

These figures were obtained from,

 * Alzheimer’s Organization,  http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_facts_and_figures.asp#quicksands, 10/24/14, 9:11pm ** Bright Focus Foundation, http://www.brightfocus.org/alzheimers/about/understanding/facts.html, 10/25/14, 8:24am

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TO MAKE A  DONATION

     To make a donation to help the medical and scientific communities find a cure for Alzheimer’s and with it finding a way to cut the amount of caregiving hours as well as funds being paid by Medicare and Medicaid and other insurances which make  up the  caregivers.  Just go to, http://act.alz.org/goto/kreis64,  I am only $151.00 away from my $600.00 pledge, please help me to meet, if not exceed my pledge.  Thank you all in advance for reading this post and for helping find a cure for this awful disease.

Thank you,
Richard K.
www.PickYourPain.org
PickYourPain@att.net
AUTHORS BIO:
Richard is a trifecta caregiver, along with his wife he cares for himself, with Chronic Back Pain which he’s had for 21 years. He cares for his brother in-law, Robert who has dealt with Epilepsy his entire life   now lives with Richard and his wife.  He also advocates for his mother who has various cardiac related issues, severe hearing loss and other medical issues.  You can read 
about his experiences with chronic pain and how he deals with his mothers and brother in-law’s issues on PickYourPain.org or at Caregiving.com.  He is also involved in several of Caregiving.com’s support groups and chat rooms, he is co-host of an 
internet based radio show about caregiving. Richard is also a patient adviser, board member for Intake.me which is working to 
improve the intake process at medical facilities.  Richard has three adult children who despite them having to deal with his 
chronic pain issues growing up, he says, “They have turned out better than I’d hoped for.”Richard with ICare Shirt I, 06242014