A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association called Generation Alzheimer’s sheds yet more light on the disease.
“Alzheimer’s – with its broad ranging impact on individuals, families, Medicare and Medicaid – has the power to bring the country to its financial knees,” said Robert J. Egge, vice president of Public Policy of the Alzheimer’s Association. “But when the federal government has been focused, committed and willing to put the necessary resources to work to confront a disease that poses a real public health threat to the nation – there has been great success. In order to see the day where Alzheimer’s is no longer a death sentence, we need to see that type of commitment with Alzheimer’s.”
Here are some of the findings:
- Many baby boomers will spend their retirement years either with Alzheimer’s or caring for someone who has it.
- An estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s.
- Starting this year, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65. As these baby boomers age, one of out of eight of them will develop Alzheimer’s.
- Alzheimer’s will darken the long-awaited retirement years of the one out of eight baby boomers who will develop it.
- It is expected that 10 million baby boomers will either die with or from Alzheimer’s, the only cause of death among the top 10 in America without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression.
- “Most people survive an average of four to six years after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, but many can live as long as 20 years with the disease.
- In addition to the human toll, over the next 40 years Alzheimer’s will cost the nation $20 trillion, enough to pay off the national debt and still send a $20,000 check to every man, woman and child in America. And while every 69 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer’s disease today, by 2050 someone will develop the disease every 33 seconds.
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