Alzheimer's Facts and Figures

Sobering facts below on Alzheimer's disease:
For all baby boomers waiting to retire, this is not something we all look forward to after a lifetime of working so hard. This is all the more reason to step off the treadmill of the 45 year plan making someone else rich in the process and look earnestly at the 2-3 year plan. Alzheimer's is not the only disease waiting at the retirement door for older Americans, sad to say, there are a whole lot more ailments waiting at that door, if we neglect our health while pursuing the 45 year plan.

This is the reality, and once you know and understand this reality, it is all the more reason to be vigilant of what you eat and stay and remain healthy.

Quick facts from Alzheimer's Association 

• 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease.
• One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer's disease.
• Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
• More than 15 million Americans provide unpaid care valued at $210 billion for persons with Alzheimer's and other dementias. 
• Payments for care are estimated to be $200 billion in the United States in 2012.

Cost to nation

In 2012, the direct costs of caring for those with Alzheimer’s or other dementias to American society will total an estimated $200 billion, including $140 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid.

Average per person Medicare payments for an older person with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are nearly 3 times higher than for an older person without these conditions. Medicaid payments are 19 times higher. These costs will only continue to soar in the coming years given the projected rapidly escalating prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as the baby boomers age.

Unless something is done, the care costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias will soar from $200 billion this year to a projected $1.1 trillion (in today’s dollars) by 2050. This dramatic rise includes a 500 percent increase in combined Medicare and Medicaid spending. 

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