Capital Health Care NetworkAlzheimer’s disease: A True Healthcare Crisis

We are at the onset of a healthcare crisis which will soon be recognized as an epidemic on all fronts. The number of Americans affected by the crisis is expected to more than triple by 2050. This mental illness already claims 5.5 million Americans and is expected to cost the nation 259 billion this year alone. To date, there is no cure meaning there are no survivors and the disease is characterized by unfathomable human suffering and hardship.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association:
• One in 10 people age 65 and over currently have Alzheimer’s.
• Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women.
• Blacks are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia as whites.
• Hispanics are about one and one-half times as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia as whites.
• Someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s Disease every 66 seconds currently and projections are that by 2050 that will increase to every 33 seconds.

To add insult to injury, studies indicate that Alzheimer’s deaths are vastly under-reported resulting in an underscoring of the disease including under-funding. Research shows that Alzheimer’s was the underlying cause of death in 500,000 deaths in the United States in 2010, a figure close to six times the estimate from the Centers for Disease Control.

Written by: Lisa Stockdale