John Elflein
Research expert covering health and health care
The term dementia is used to describe not one specific disease but a wide range of symptoms. The most well-known and pronounced symptoms of dementia include memory loss and a decrease in the ability to think. Other symptoms include difficulties speaking or problems with language, emotional problems, visual problems, and a general decrease in the ability to reason, make judgements, focus, and pay attention. The most recognized and common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), accounts for between 60 and 80 percent of all dementia cases. Other forms of dementia include vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). In 2020, around 6.1 million people aged 65 years and older in the United States suffered from Alzheimer's disease, with this figure expected to grow to 8.5 million by the year 2030. Furthermore, it is estimated that U.S. men aged 65 years have a 19.5 percent chance of developing Alzheimer's disease during their lifetime, while the lifetime risk for women age 65 years is 21.1 percent.
Deaths caused by Alzheimer's disease
While the death rates in the United States for HIV, heart disease, and stroke have all decreased in the last 19 years, the death rate from Alzheimer’s disease has increased by 145 percent. In fact, Alzheimer's disease is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Alzheimer’s death rates increase greatly with age, with the death rate among those aged 75 to 84 at around 210 per 100,000 population, compared to a rate of 24.9 per 100,000 population among those aged 65 to 74 years. The states with the highest rates of death due to Alzheimer's disease include South Dakota, Mississippi, and Alabama.The cost of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer’s disease does not only cause a tremendous amount of pain and death, but the financial impact of the disease is also substantial. In 2023, it was estimated that the cost of care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease to Medicare and Medicaid was 222 billion U.S. dollars, with this figure predicted to increase to some 644 billion by 2050. Out-of-pocket costs for older people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are also significant, totaling 87 billion dollars in the year 2023. The presence of Alzheimer’s or other dementias increases the annual mean payment per Medicare beneficiary among those aged 65 years and older in a number of care settings including inpatient hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, and home health care.
