The risk for Alzheimer's disease increases with age such that roughly 1 in 10 adults living in the US over the age of 65 will receive a diagnosis of AD.
Despite the many years and billions of dollars spent on the research and development of new treatments, there is still no cure for Alzheimer's disease or any other type of dementia. Approved medications that are currently available for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease only treat the symptoms; such medications only temporarily improve cognition. There haven’t been any new developments in treatment in over twenty years.
By the year 2025, it is projected that the number of people in the United States age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s and dementia will reach 7.1 million— that is nearly a 27 percent increase from the 5.6 million affected in 2019.
Disease-modifying therapies that will prevent or delay the onset, or slow the progression, of AD are urgently needed. A modest 1-year delay in onset by 2020 would result in there being 9.2 million fewer cases worldwide by 2050.
Delaying the onset of dementia by five years would halve the number of deaths from the condition, saving 30,000 lives a year in the United States, alone.
Because interventions and treatments for Alzheimer’s need to be developed, participation in clinical research studies is essential. These studies aim to prevent, manage and ultimately cure Alzheimer’s disease.
Only 16% of adults over age 65 receive regular cognitive assessments during routine health check-ups. This is one of the many reasons it is so important to take our Brain Health Assessment today and on a regular basis to monitor any changes in memory.
Resources
Alzheimer’s Association. 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. Alzheimers Dement 2019;15(3):321-87. Alzheimer’s Association. 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. Alzheimer’s Dementia 2019;15(3):32
Alzheimer's disease drug development pipeline: 2018. Cummings, Jeffrey et al. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, Volume 4, 195 – 214
Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2019, from
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet
Patterson C. World Alzheimer Report 2018. The state of the art of dementia research: New frontiers. London: Alzheimer’s Disease International.
https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2018.pdf
That is to say, about 3 seconds. As the World Alzheimer Report 2018 puts it, “blink twice.”
https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2018.pdf
Heron MP. Deaths: Leading causes for 2016. National Vital Statistics Reports 67(6). Center for Disease Control and Prevention: National Vital Statistics System. 26 July 2018.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_06.pdf