Alzheimer's disease statistics

If you've ever known someone who was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, you know exactly how devastating the disease can be. It's a terrible problem that can cause a person to lose the abilities to do even the most basic of activities that everyday life demands, and it can be a trying issue for the patient and their loved ones alike. In this article, we'll relay to you some Alzheimer's disease statistics to help you to understand exactly how prevalent the disease is.

- According to some studies, Alzheimer's disease is present in roughly 4.5 million people in America alone. This is a pretty large number, and unfortunately, the rate of people with the disease has gone up more than double since the year 1980. At the current rate of growth of the disease, projections for the year 2050 state that as many as 11.3 million to 16 million people may face the disease. Medical advancements may be able to keep this number from coming true, however; research has shown that if a treatment were to come out for the disease which caused the onset to be delayed for 5 years, the rate could actually drop to fifty percent of its current rate by the year 2050.   

- In addition to all of the mental suffering that one may go through when a loved one has Alzheimer's, there is also a lot of financial worry that the disease can cause. The total cost of treating Alzheimer's patients in America, per year, is projected to be over one hundred billion dollars. The disease also causes much woe to businesses, which lose roughly sixty one billion dollars per year due to health care costs and lost productivity due to workers that have had to take time off.

- On an individual basis, the costs for caring for an Alzheimer's patient can be devastating. The average cost of care for the lifetime of someone with the disease is about one hundred and seventy four thousand dollars. That statistic is based off of the facts that around seven out of ten Alzheimer's patients live at home and rely principally on the care of loved ones. If the patient were to be in a nursing home for the duration of the disease, the cost would be much higher: the average cost of a nursing home in America, per year, is forty two thousand dollars.

- In the fight for better Alzheimer's treatment, many have given their time and efforts to beating the disease. In the year 2005, the American government has spent six hundred and forty seven million dollars towards finding better treatment for the disease. One of the leading Alzheimer's organizations, the Alzheimer's Association, has given over one hundred and eighty five million dollars to research studies in order to beat the disease.

Now that you know more about what is being done to fight the disease and exactly what kind of financial situation those who have a loved one with Alzheimer's face, you can have a greater understanding of the problem. If you can, help contribute to research to fight the disease. One in three people know someone who has been afflicted with Alzheimer's, and we need to do all that we can to decrease that rate.

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