Alzheimer’s burden to double by 2060 in US

Washington: About 1.6 percent of Americans had dementia in 2014. By 2060, the CDC estimates 13.9 million people will have Alzheimer's or a related memory disease · As more people get sick, caregivers and funds will become spread thin. The number of Americans suffering from Alzheimer's is set to double by 2060, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) estimates. Alzheimer's disease is already crippling the minds of some 5.7 million Americans, and we have long expected a dramatic rise in its prevalence as the population ages. The devastating neurodegenerative disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the US, and caring for the surviving sufferers costs hundreds of billions of dollars. The population isn't just aging — it's growing, as babies are born and people live longer. But we are making little progress against Alzheimer's and the CDC's latest figures suggest that the burden of the disease will only loom larger as time goes on. One in three seniors in the US has Alzheimer's. With so many suffering from it, one might think that there is plenty of impetus to research the disease and more than enough subjects for study. But we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding what Alzheimer's does to the brain. Meanwhile, the Alzheimer's Association estimates that the best way to save $ 7.9 trillion in expenses for treating patients is to improve diagnoses and make sure they happen ASAP.