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   Alzheimer's Cases Expected to Double by 2050    
   Costs for care may go up as much as fivefold if disease isn't delayed,   
   prevented    
      
      
      
   WebMD News from HealthDay    
   By Robert Preidt    
      
   HealthDay Reporter    
      
   FRIDAY, Nov. 14, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The number of people with   
   Alzheimer's disease in the United States will more than double by 2050 -- a   
   trend driven by the aging baby boomer population, a new study predicts.    
      
   The cost of caring for these Alzheimer's patients will climb from $307 billion   
   to $1.5 trillion a year by 2050, the researchers estimated. They believe that,   
   35 years from now, the average annual per-patient cost of the disease will be   
   double that of the    
   $71,000-a-year cost in 2010.    
      
      
   "It is so expensive because individuals with Alzheimer's disease need   
   extensive help with daily activities provided by paid caregivers or by family   
   members who may be taking time off of work to care for them, which has a   
   double impact on the economy,"    
   study lead author Julie Zissimopoulos, an assistant professor at the School of   
   Public Policy at the University of Southern California, said in a university   
   news release.    
      
   "In late stages of the disease, they need help with personal care and lose the   
   ability to control movement, which requires 24-hour care, most often in an   
   institutional setting," she said.    
      
   The majority of these costs are paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, the   
   researchers said.    
      
   It is estimated that the number of Americans aged 65 and older will increase   
   from about 43 million in 2012 (14 percent of the population) to nearly 84   
   million by 2050 (21 percent of the population).    
      
   Between 2010 and 2050, there will be a 153 percent rise in the number of   
   people 70 and older with Alzheimer's -- from 3.6 million to 9.1 million --   
   according to the University of Southern California researchers.    
      
   The new research also suggested that delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease   
   could offer significant benefits.    
      
   By 2050, being able to delay Alzheimer's onset by five years would result in   
   41 percent fewer cases and lower the overall costs to society by 40 percent,   
   according to the study published online recently in the journal Forum for   
   Health Economics and    
   Policy.    
      
   "Our colleagues in the medical field are working on ways to understand how the   
   disease interferes with brain processes -- and then stop it," Zissimopoulos   
   said.    
      
   "Investment in their work now could yield huge benefits down the line," she   
   added.    
      
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   View Article Sources    
   HealthDay    
      
      
   http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20141114/alzheimers-cases-e   
   pected-to-double-by-2050-researchers-say   
      
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