Alzheimer’s disease was first described in 1906 but 70 years passed before it was recognized as a common form of dementia and major cause of death. Although Alzheimer’s is now a significant area of research, there is still much to be discovered about the cause, development, and cure of the disease. The Alzheimer’s Association has published its report for the 2017 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.
Some of the numbers are highlighted below:
Overview
In 2017, an estimated 5.5 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease. In Indiana, there were an estimated 110,000 Alzheimer’s patients in 2017 with a projected 20,000 additional patients in 2025. One in ten people age 65 and older have Alzheimer’s. Of people who have Alzheimer’s, 82 percent are age 75 and older. Almost 2/3 of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women.
Deaths
Between 2000 and 2015, deaths from Alzheimer’s have increased by 89 percent.Among people age 70, 61 percent of those with Alzheimer’s are expected to die before age 80 compared with 30 percent of people without Alzheimer’s.Alzheimer’s is becoming a more common cause of death, and it is the only top 10 cause of death that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
Caregiving
More than 15 million caregivers provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. In 2016, caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias provided an estimated 18.2 billion hours of unpaid assistance, valued at $230.1 billion. This is approximately nine times the total revenue of McDonald’s in 2015 ($25.4 billion). In Indiana, caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s or dementia reached 335,000 people providing about 382 million hours of care.
Costs
Total payments in 2017 for all individuals with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are estimated at $259 billion. Medicare and Medicaid are estimated to cover 67 percent of the total cost.
The median cost for a paid non-medical home health aide is $20 per hour and $127 per day. Home care costs have increased by 1.3 percent annually over the past 5 years.
The median cost of adult day services is $68 per day. The cost of adult day services has increased by 2.5 percent annually over the past 5 years. Ninety-five percent of adult day centers provide care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, and 2 percent of these centers charged an additional fee for these clients in 2012.
The median cost for care in an assisted living facility is $3,628 per month, or $43,539 per year. The cost of assisted living has increased 2.2 percent annually over the past 5 years.
The average cost for a private room in a nursing home is $253 per day, or $92,378 per year. The average cost of a semiprivate room in a nursing home is $225 per day, or $82,125 per year. The cost of nursing home care has increased by 3.5 percent and 3.1 percent annually over the past 5 years for a private and semi-private room, respectively.
You can find the full report at the Alzheimer’s Association website.