A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association has some bad news about the future of Alzheimer’s disease.
Right now, more than five million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease — including as many as 250,000 people under the age of sixty-five. By 2010, the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that there will be five hundred thousand new cases reported each year. By 2050, the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that there will be one million new cases of Alzheimer’s disease annually.
The bad news focuses especially on baby boomers. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that ten million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetimes — that’s approximately one out of every eight baby boomers. Baby boomers are approaching sixty-five, the age of highest risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Some people are already showing signs of the disease; others will develop Alzheimer’s disease over the next few decades.
Women are at greater risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease than men. The Alzheimer’s Association reports that Alzheimer’s disease is now the seventh deadliest disease in America.
One major concern is health care costs. Most people with Alzheimer’s disease are eligible for Medicare; as the numbers of Alzheimer’s patients increase, the system could become strained. Medicare already spends three times more money on people with Alzheimer’s disease (and other forms of dementia) than it does on people without. By 2010, Medicare expects to spend more than $160 billion annually on people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. By 2050, that number could be as much as $189 billion.
Another concern is long-term care. Many families choose to try to care for people with Alzheimer’s disease at home, affecting spouses, children, grandchildren, and extended families. Approximately three-quarters of people with Alzheimer’s disease eventually end up in a nursing home or an assisted living facility — but long-term care is often not covered by regular health insurance.
The Alzheimer’s Association hopes that the disease will someday be manageable — or even preventable. Even simply slowing the progression or delaying the onset could save millions of people from the strain of dealing with the disease (and save billions of dollars, too).