Resources / Information about Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

General Facts

• Over 5.5 million Americans are now victims of AD.
• Every 70 seconds an American is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (1238 Americans daily).
• Half of all nursing home residents have Alzheimer's disease.
• 5.3 MILLION Americans have Alzheimer's disease right now.
• The chance YOU have of getting AD doubles for each 5 years that you live beyond 60 years.
• Medical scientists predict that unless a prevention/cure is found the number of American victims will grow to 16 million within the next 20 to 25 years.
• Without a cure, one out of every 10 living Americans will ultimately become victims.
• 9.9 million unpaid caregivers (mostly family members) take care of Alzheimer's patients.
• The cost of health care is 3 times greater for someone with AD or other kind of dementia.
• $49.3 billion is the expected total of Medicare costs for Alzheimer's patients in 2010.
• $148 BILLION is the cost (direct and indirect) of treating and caring for Alzheimer's disease patients annually.

Links to Resources

• The National Institutes of Health -Information about AD
• WebMD - Information about AD
  
• ADEAR Center (Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral
  
• Health Central