ALZHEIMER’S

health-care systems and unpaid caregivers.

On average, a patient relies on two to three loved ones to serve as caregivers as the slow-moving disease progresses — an emotional and financial hardship that lasts an average of eight years but can sometimes stretch much longer, said Vince McGrail, executive director and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association’s central Ohio chapter.

“It’s pretty substantial,” McGrail said. “If you look at it that way, you have nearly 100,000 more people directly affected by this disease.”

The findings from Ohio are part of the 2018 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report released Tuesday by the Alzheimer’s Association. The annual report analyzes new research about caregiving, cost, prevalence and mortality and morbidity. It includes national findings and state-by-state breakdowns of the data.

The association says Ohio is estimated to have a lower percentage increase in Alzheimer’s patients than other states because its population won’t age as much as the rest of the nation between now and 2025.

This year’s report also found:

• An estimated 5.7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s in 2018, including 220,000 in Ohio. By 2025, the national figure is expected to grow by 29 percent to 7.1 million people age 65 or older living with the disease.

• The total national cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s in 2018 is expected to surpass $277 billion, an increase of $20 billion since last year.

• In Ohio, 4,643 people died from Alzheimer’s in 2015, the most-recent data available in a state-by-state breakdown. Ohio had the fourth-highest number of deaths among all states, with a mortality rate of 40 percent, the 17th highest.

• More than 16 million Americans provided an estimated 18.4 billion hours of unpaid care to Alzheimer’s patients in 2017, a contribution valued at $232.1 billion. In Ohio, 600,000 caregivers provided 684 million hours, valued at $8.6 billion, the sixth highest of any state.

Tom Cotter, 68, who lives north of Dublin, was initially surprised by the figures on unpaid caregiving hours. But then he paused to reflect on his experiences caring for a family member.

“When you think about what caregivers face on a daily basis, individually, and then do the math, it really makes it real,” he said.

Despite the startling data, Cotter said he’s still holding out hope that the epidemic can be contained.

That’s why the Alzheimer’s Association is pushing for more public awareness of the disease and more research funding, McGrail said. The disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in Ohio and nationally, but it’s the only one in the top 10 without a known way to prevent, cure or slow its progression.

If nothing changes, the number of Alzheimer’s cases will swell exponentially as the U.S. population ages in the coming decades, he said. The number of Americans age 65 or older is expected to grow from 53 million today to 88 million by 2050.

“We know this is coming,” McGrail said. “We’re pushing for those breakthroughs.”