Prevalence and Impact

AD accounts for 50 to 75 percent of all dementias. AD prevalence increases
from 1 percent at age sixty-five to between 20 and 35 percent by age eightyfive.
On average, AD sufferers may live from eight to twenty years following
diagnosis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people worldwide aged sixty-five years and older will reach 1.2 billion
by 2025 and will exceed 2 billion by 2050. Of these, an estimated 22 million
individuals will be afflicted with AD worldwide. The Alzheimer’s Association
speculates that if a preventive is not found, AD will be diagnosed in 14 million
Americans by the middle of the twenty-first century.
A study done in 1998 revealed that African Americans and Latino Americans
might have a higher overall risk of AD. Socioeconomic status, health
care, level of education, and culture may also influence the diagnosis of AD.
Another study in 1998 estimated that the annual economic burden created
by the cost of caring for a patient with mild AD is $18,000, for a patient with
moderate AD $30,000, and for a patient with severe AD $36,000. More than
half of AD patients are cared for at home, with almost 75 percent of their
care provided by family and friends. In 2002 the Alzheimer’s Association estimated
that approximately $33 billion is lost annually by American businesses
as a result of AD. Time taken by caregivers of AD sufferers accounts
for $26 billion, and $7 billion is spent for health issues and long-term care
related to AD. Additionally, AD costs the United States more than $100 billion
annually.