By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY
A new government-funded report confirms what advocacy groups have
been warning for years: The number of people in the USA with Alzheimer's
disease will almost triple by 2050, straining the health care system
and taxing the health of caregivers.
Numbers
are projected to rise from about 5 million now to 13.8 million. The
disease robs people of their memory, erases personality and makes even
routine tasks like dressing and bathing impossible.
"We're going
to need coordinated efforts for this upcoming epidemic,'' says lead
author Jennifer Weuve, assistant professor of medicine at Rush Institute
for Healthy Aging in Chicago. "People have trouble getting their heads
around these numbers, but imagine if everyone in the state of Illinois
(population 12.8 million) had Alzheimer's. I look around Chicago and
can't imagine it.''
The study is published today in the journal Neurology.
Researchers analyzed information from 10,802 black and white Chicago
residents, ages 65 and older, from 1993 to 2011. Participants were
interviewed and assessed for dementia every three years. Age, race and
level of education were factored into the research. The projections are
similar to a study done 10 years ago but include new data from the 2010
Census about death rates and future population rates. An upcoming study
will examine the effect on health care costs, which are expected to
exceed $2 trillion, according to the Alzheimer's Association.
"These
numbers are more credible because they involve new Census data,'' says
Dallas Anderson, director of population studies and epidemiology of
Alzheimer's disease at the National Institute on Aging. "If you know
anyone who has Alzheimer's disease now, you know how dire this
projection is for the nation.''
The three-fold increase is largely
the result of the aging Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. The
main risk for Alzheimer's is age. The population of people 65 and older
is expected to more than double from 40.3 million to 88.5 million,
according to the 2010 Census.
"We've had great success in this
country when we've decided to focus on a condition,'' Weuve says. "We've
done it with good research in heart disease, cancer and HIV, but we are
in our infancy when it comes to Alzheimer's research."
Alzheimer's
is the only disease among the top six killers in the USA for which
there is no prevention, cure or treatment. The government boosted
funding last year and made prevention a 2025 goal. Funding for the
disease was $606 million -- exceeding $500 million for the first time
in 2012. But it trails other diseases: HIV at $3 billion and cancer at
$6 billion. An additional $100 million for Alzheimer's research for 2013
is awaiting approval, the Alzheimer's Association says.
"We need
to put the pedal to the metal on research,'' says George Vradenburg,
chairman of USAgainstAlzheimers, an advocacy group. "We need to find a
way to prevent this terrible disease."
President Reagan, who left
office in 1989, disclosed in 1994 that he had Alzheimer's. Others
include Robert Sargent Shriver, actress Rita Hayworth and singer Glenn
Campbell. Last year, the University of Tennessee's legendary women's
basketball coach Pat Summitt revealed she has early-onset Alzheimer's.
The study was financed by the National Institute of Aging, National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimer's Association.
"There
is great urgency for meaningful, timely and comprehensive action," says
Maria Carrillo, vice president of medical and scientific relations for
the Alzheimer's Association.