YORK, Pa. — The Alzheimer's Association has released its 2024 Disease Facts and Figures Report, and it shows nearly 7 million older adults in our country are living with Alzheimer's disease.
"We saw in the main report some really daunting statistics," said Clay Jacobs with the Association's Greater Pennsylvania Chapter. "More Americans have Alzehimer's disease and related dementia, more are dying with the disease and the cost for the disease for individual families, caregivers and the government continues to just skyrocket."
Just how high?
The report showed $360 billion will be spent this year on Alzheimer's care, which is up $15 billion from just a year ago. If their projections are right, that number is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by the year 2050.
It also showed seven out of 10 caregivers say coordinating Alzheimer's care is stressful, and 53% percent of them said navigating health care is still a challenge.
As for Pennsylvania?
"PA had the highest average number of hours per family caregivers in the country, and so caregivers in Pennsylvania are providing care more than 40 of the other states," Jacobs said.
Clay says regardless of that, the effort is there and very much underway to improve this year's statistics. Thanks to advancements in medicine, including the full FDA approval of the drug Leqembi, patients can now take a medication in the early stages of the disease to delay it from progressing.
"You may live symptom free for longer—that's a good thing, but that changes the conversation, so all of this is kind of happening right now and something we need to be aware of," Jacobs said.
If you'd like to check out the entire 2024 report, click here.
For more information on the Alzheimer's Association Greater Pennsylvania Chapter, click here.