2013 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures

Abstract

This report provides information to increase understanding of the public health impact of Alzheimer's disease (AD), including incidence and prevalence, mortality rates, health expenditures and costs of care, and effect on caregivers and society in general. It also explores the roles and unique challenges of long-distance caregivers, as well as interventions that target those challenges. An estimated 5.2 million Americans have AD. Approximately 200,000 people younger than 65 years with AD comprise the younger onset AD population; 5 million comprise the older onset AD population. Throughout the coming decades, the baby boom generation is projected to add about 10 million to the total number of people in the United States with AD. Today, someone in America develops AD every 68 seconds. By 2050, one new case of AD is expected to develop every 33 seconds, or nearly a million new cases per year, and the total estimated prevalence is expected to be 13.8 million. AD is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the fifth leading cause of death in Americans age 65 years or older. Between 2000 and 2010, the proportion of deaths resulting from heart disease, stroke, and prostate cancer decreased 16%, 23%, and 8%, respectively, whereas the proportion resulting from AD increased 68%. The number of deaths from AD as determined by official death certificates (83,494 in 2010) likely underrepresents the number of AD-related deaths in the United States. A projected 450,000 older Americans with AD will die in 2013, and a large proportion will die as a result of complications of AD. In 2012, more than 15 million family members and other unpaid caregivers provided an estimated 17.5 billion hours of care to people with AD and other dementias, a contribution valued at more than $216 billion. Medicare payments for services to beneficiaries age 65 years and older with AD and other dementias are three times as great as payments for beneficiaries without these conditions, and Medicaid payments are 19 times as great. Total payments in 2013 for health care, long-term care, and hospice services for people age 65 years and older with dementia are expected to be $203 billion (not including the contributions of unpaid caregivers). An estimated 2.3 million caregivers of people with AD and other dementias live at least 1 hour away from the care recipient. These "long-distance caregivers" face unique challenges, including difficulty in assessing the care recipient's true health condition and needs, high rates of family disagreement regarding caregiving decisions, and high out-of-pocket expenses for costs related to caregiving. Out-of-pocket costs for long-distance caregivers are almost twice as high as for local caregivers.

Peripheral Retinal Imaging Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study

“…However, definite diagnosis still only possible at post-mortem examination of autopsy samples [3]. Diagnosing and monitoring the progression of AD in the brain with the currently available methods is invasive, insensitive, and expensive, and often requires the use of radioactive isotopes [4, 5]. Therefore, there is an urgent need for methods that can noninvasively, cost-effectively, and safely identify individuals at risk of disease progression.…”

Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Revised Caregiving Appraisal Scale in Iranian Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia

“…Dementia has recently been acknowledged as a major challenge to public health due to the diminishing ability of the affected to lead an independent life and the subsequent economic burden on both formal and informal health care systems. Providing care to people with dementia involves a variety of human, social and economic dimensions, and imposes an economic burden on the individual, the family and the community (1,2). tems, dementia has dramatic effects on the family structure (6)(7)(8).…”

β-Caryophyllene Ameliorates the Alzheimer-Like Phenotype in APP/PS1 Mice through CB2 Receptor Activation and the PPARγ Pathway

“…Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that constitutes 60-80% of all dementia cases [1]. AD is marked by a decline in cognitive abilities, particularly in the acquisition and retrieval of new memories [2,3], which is characterized by the deposition of extracellular senile plaques, mainly composed of fibrillar β-amyloid peptide, and the formation of intracellular tangles containing hyperphosphorylated tau [4].…”