Increase in Alzheimer's

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=170 BGCOLOR="#000099" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="043aac00erkqpg.png"> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>(804) 744-8512</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="long_term_care_insurance_plan_designs_for_free.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Select Free Service"><U><B>Select Free Service</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="long_term_care_insurance_solutions.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Long-term care funding solutions by Financial Strategies </B></FONT>     |     <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Longterm care funding solutions by Finan"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="long_term_care_insurance.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alzheimers Medicare"><U><IMG SRC="04111110.png" border=0 width="17" height="17" ALT="prev" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A> <A HREF="long_term_care50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alzheimers promising drug"><U><IMG SRC="04211110.png" border=0 width="17" height="17" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>     <A HREF="long_term_care__long_term_care_insurance.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Press Releases"><U><IMG SRC="04011110.png" border=0 width="17" height="17" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="17" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="17"></div> <div> <I>Increase in Alzheimer's</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="long_term_care__long_term_care_insurance.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Press Releases"><U><B>Huge increase in Alzheimer's seen</B></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#990000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="long_term_care__long_term_care_insurance.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Press Releases"><U> </U></A></FONT></div> <div> <B>Doctors warn that growing numbers threaten nation's health care system</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>By JOHN FAUBER</B></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:jfauber@journalsentinel.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:jfauber@journalsentinel.com"><U><B><U>jfauber@journalsentinel.com</U></B></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I><B>Last Updated: Aug. 18, 2003</B></I> </div> <div> A dramatic increase in the number of people with Alzheimer's disease will severely strain government and family budgets in the coming decades, according to new projections released Monday.</div> <bR> <div> Unless new treatments or preventive measures are discovered, there will be a 27% increase in Alzheimer's cases by 2020; a 70% increase by 2030; and a 300% increase by 2050, according to a study funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association.</div> <div> About 4.5 million people now have the disease, a now-irreversible brain disorder that erodes memory and leaves people unable to function mentally or physically.</div> <div> "If left unchecked, it is no exaggeration to say that Alzheimer's disease will destroy the health care system and bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid," Sheldon Goldberg, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association, said in a statement.</div> <bR> <div> The main reason for the increased number of Alzheimer's cases: The projected growth in the number of older people, especially those older than 85, in the coming decades.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"People are living longer," said Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, NIA's associate director for neuroscience and neuropsychology of aging program. "It's amazing what the advances in medical technology have done for us."</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">But as people survive diseases that occur earlier in life, they become more susceptible to diseases of aging, such as Alzheimer's. The 85-plus population is expected to increase from 4 million people today to 19 million in 2050, she said.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">As a result, the number of Alzheimer's cases is expected to grow from 4.5 million today to between 11.2 million and 16 million in 2050.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Alzheimer's Association and the National Institute on Aging funded the study, done by researchers at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. It appears in the August issue of the Archives of Neurology.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The projections were made by looking at the incidence of new Alzheimer's cases over a four-year period among a group of 3,913 Chicago residents ages 65 and older. Those numbers then were applied to U.S. Census Bureau population projections.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Estimates provided by the Alzheimer's Association of Southeastern Wisconsin also project big increases here. Wisconsin and the 12-county southeastern Wisconsin area now have 104,000 and 46,000 cases, respectively.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those numbers are expected to jump to 160,600 and 70,600 by 2025, said Stephen Gardner, a spokesman for the association.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"2050 is the real scary figure," Gardner said. By then, the number of southeastern Wisconsin cases could reach 138,000 and the number of Wisconsin cases, 312,000. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And those are just people with full-blown Alzheimer's. An even larger number of older people are likely to develop a condition known as mild cognitive impairment, which causes short-term memory problems but is less debilitating than Alzheimer's, said Piero Antuono, a professor of neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"It will affect the way we do medicine in the future," Antuono said. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Prevention, treatment</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> All the projections are based on the assumption that there are no medical breakthroughs. But many researchers have expressed optimism about the development of new drugs to treat or prevent the disease.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Alzheimer's Association estimates that there are 30 to 40 experimental treatments or preventive strategies in various stages of testing.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Morrison-Bogorad said the National Institutes of Health alone spent more than $600 million on Alzheimer's research in 2002. In addition, a large amount of money is being invested by drug companies.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">She said she hopes symptom-delaying drugs will be developed in coming years, especially in those who are found to be at high risk for the disease but who may be years away from developing symptoms.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"Alzheimer's probably starts 10 to 20 years before a person is diagnosed," she said. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The hope is that by using genetic testing and new brain-imaging techniques, those people can be identified early so they can begin lifestyle changes and drug treatment that may delay symptoms for years.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Either way, the disease is likely to remain very costly. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Alzheimer's Association estimates that Medicare spending on Alzheimer's will increase 54%, to $49.3 billion, in 2010, and that Medicaid spending will increase 80%, to $33 billion.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">But Medicare generally pays only for doctor visits. And while Medicaid may cover nursing home costs, coverage doesn't kick in until the patient's assets have been reduced to about $2,000.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">So families often incur the biggest costs, according to advocates for seniors. Nursing home costs for an Alzheimer's patient can run $4,000 to $5,000 a month.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Many families may keep the person at home until the disease has progressed to the point where round-the-clock care is needed.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"There is not a typical way it is done," said Chester Kuzminski, resource center manager for the Milwaukee County Department on Aging. "It happens gradually."</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Those costs and family care resources can vary dramatically, depending on whether a person is diagnosed with the disease at age 65 or age 80.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ***** </div> <div> Source: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.alzheimers.org/nianews/nianews59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.alzheimers.org/nianews/nianew"><U><U>http://www.alzheimers.org/nianews/nianews59.htm</U></U></A></FONT>. </div> <div> Scientists project that some 13.2 million older Americans will have Alzheimer's disease (AD) by 2050 unless new ways are found to prevent or treat the disease. According to these latest estimates of the current and future prevalence of AD, reported by Denis A. Evans, M.D., and colleagues of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, the numbers of older people with AD -- now at 4.5 million - will grow dramatically as the population ages. The most notable increases will be among people age 85 and older, when by mid-century 8 million people in that age group may have the disease.</div> <bR> <div> The projections appear in the August 2003 issue of the<I> </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://archneur.ama-assn.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://archneur.ama-assn.org/"><U><I><U>Archives of Neurology</U></I></U></A></FONT>. "These updated estimates from Evans and his group underscore the challenge that we face in the fight against AD," says Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, Ph.D., NIA Associate Director for the Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging Program, which funded the research. "But I am also optimistic that current research will lead to strategies for intervention early in the disease so that we can keep these projections from becoming a reality."</div> <bR> <div> The estimates were derived from a study of the incidence (number of new cases of AD per year) over 4 years among 3,913 people 65 and older in Chicago. The researchers then calculated the national prevalence of AD (the number of people at any particular time who have the disease) using population projections from the Census and death rates from the National Center for Health Statistics. Their estimates, based on Census Bureau "middle series" population projections, are:</div> <bR> <div> <B>Number of People with AD, by Age Group</B> (in millions) </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Year</B>   <B> </B><B>Age 65-74</B>      <B> </B><B>Age 75-84</B>      <B> </B><B>Age 85+</B>        <B> </B><B>Total</B>  </div> <div> 2000   0.3    2.4    1.8    <B> </B><B>4.5</B>    </div> <div> 2010   0.3    2.4    2.4    <B> </B><B>5.1</B>    </div> <div> 2020   0.3    2.6    2.8    <B> </B><B>5.7</B>    </div> <div> 2030   0.5    3.8    3.5    <B> </B><B>7.7</B>    </div> <div> 2040   0.4    5.0    5.6    <B> </B><B>11.0</B>   </div> <div> 2050   0.4    4.8    8.0    <B> </B><B>13.2</B>   </div> <div> In 2000, 7 percent of those with AD were age 65-74, 53 percent age 75-84, and 40 percent age 85 and older. By 2050, it is projected that 60 percent of people with AD will be 85 and older.</div> <bR> <div> In 2000, among people age 65-74, 17 percent of the cases of AD were classified as severe, compared with 20 percent severe among people 75-84 and 28 percent severe at age 85 or older.</div> <bR> <div> "Declines in death rates after age 65 mean that more people will survive to the oldest ages, where risk of AD is greatest," notes Evans. "These numbers validate the current thinking that we must do what we can as early as possible in the disease process, prior to advanced age, if we are to head off these very high rates of AD in the future."</div> <bR> <div> Over a decade ago, Evans and colleagues estimated the national prevalence of AD, based on an East Boston, MA, population study. The new estimates are similar to those earlier findings. </div> <div> The updated findings were reported by Evans, Liesi E. Hebert, Julia L. Bienias, and David A. Bennett of Rush and by Paul A. Scherr of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NIA, along with funding this study, also supports the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. The Alzheimer's Association also provided funding for the prevalence study.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>