Alzheimer's Cases In The U.s. Expected To Triple By 2050: Study

[News_Editor]

Alzheimer's cases in the U.S. expected to triple by 2050: study < br />

2013-02-08 10:15:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA (BNO NEWS) -- Cases of Alzheimer's disease in the United States are expected to triple in the next 40 years as so-called baby boomers are reaching old age, according to a study published Wednesday that suggests there could be close to 14 million sufferers by 2050.

There were 4.7 million people with Alzheimer's disease in the United States in 2010, but baby boomers reaching old age are likely to triple that number by 2050. The results of the study were published on Wednesday in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"This increase is due to an aging baby boom generation," said Jennifer Weuve, assistant professor of medicine at Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. She referred to the large numbers of people who were born in the years immediately after the end of World War II.

The researchers analyzed information from 10,802 elderly people who lived in Chicago between 1993 and 2011, and participants were interviewed and assessed for dementia every three years. The results were combined with U.S. death rates, education and current and future population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The study found that the total number of people with Alzheimer's disease is likely to reach 13.8 million by 2050, when about 7 million of those with the disease would be age 85 or older. "These projections anticipate a future with a dramatic increase in the number of people with Alzheimer's and should compel us to prepare for it," Weuve said.

Weuve said the results draw attention to an "urgent need" for more research, treatments and preventive strategies to reduce the effects of the disease. "[The increase] will place a huge burden on society, disabling more people who develop the disease, challenging their caregivers, and straining medical and social safety nets," she said.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2013-02-08

[Chicog]

I was going to comment on this thread but I've forgotten what I was going to say.

[lanny]

It's not surprising! It has been suggested that everyone would develop Alzheimer's if we live long enough. We might have to live to 150, but, if we do, we will get the disease! So, as the population ages, more and more people will live long enough to become a victim.

[F430murci]

This is what happens when medical technology keep people alive longer than they were intended to live. I have spent the good part if my career representing nursing homes and handling the neglect and abuse cases. While there are many examples if poor care, the majority of issues deal with geriatric patients kept alive through PEG tube feeding and dialysis. The body was ready to go when it no longer natural ingest food. We keep them alive and then other systematic failures occur particularly in the body's largest organ, skin. Decubitus ulcers occur and we get sued. Organic brain syndrome, hypertension and PVD all lead to this.

Same with dementia and Alzheimers. People live linger than body intended and organic brain syndrome, dementia, and Alzheimers develop.

[Mosha]

Living with an Alzhemers victim is bloody hard work. I had my dad at home with me for 4 years before it got too much to cope with. Even with support. Trust me it's no joke.

[craigt3365]

Living with an Alzhemers victim is bloody hard work. I had my dad at home with me for 4 years before it got too much to cope with. Even with support. Trust me it's no joke.

I'm just finding this out. Living with my mom who has dementia and progressing rapidly. Just yesterday she sat there crying...asking me why she couldn't remember things or did "stupid" things...things she didn't even remember doing when I pointed them out to her as they were happening (i.e. putting her toilet paper on the counter rather than in the toilet).

Tough work is an understatement....

[Mosha]

My last night at home with dad.

He was in the kitchen, he'd turned all the gas hobs on unlit. The light in the room was off. I went in the smell was over powering, stupidly I turned the light on, how I didn't blow up the place I don't know. Opened the window. "What are you doing dad?"

"I wanted some toast." So I got him to bed, 30 minutes later, I hear banging up stairs. I went up, he'd shit the bed. Into the bathroom, and cleaned him up. Changed the bed. Got him in bed, and I went back down stairs. 30 minutes later, the noise again. Again he messed the bed. 4times this happened. I sat downstairs and I was in tears. If I'd had an hose handy, I'd have stuck it in the exhaust, and sat in the car. I was that desperate. 3:00 am before I got to bed, and I had to be up at 5 for work. I was separated from wife #1. 5:30 I rang my sister who was getting the support allowance. "Get your arse up here, I've had a right night with him." 8:00am I rang home. no answer, I called a neighbour, and she said he'd been taken to hospital.

A sister in law had previously said. "We know what you are going through." They hadn't a clue, they hardly ever came round. She knows what I went through now because my brother has had a triple cerebral embulism. He's doing well though.

Doctors told us it would be like watching dad going down a flight off steps. Each step he would be a bit worse. They were wrong, it was more like he'd take an almighty leap of the top stop, and land at the foot of the stairs. We were lucky our local health authority treat dementia and Alzheimers as terminal illness. That affects the financial support you get in the UK.

I'm sorry to hear about your mum, and I'm sorry for depressing folks reading this. When dad passed away I didn't mourn like I did when mum went. It was a relief. We did laugh as a family at the trivial things he did. He never forgot his kids, but he hadn't a clue who is son in law or his daughters in law were. He once asked my eldest brother. "Who's this tart you've brought with you?"

The people who suffer from this horrible disease are the family doing the caring. The people they are caring for, have knowledge of the situation. They know in the early stages their memory is poor, but that's about all. Mt eldest sister in law's mum had it. She could sit all day reading a newspaper. Over and over again.

Edited February 14, 2013 by Mosha

[craigt3365]

Wow...quite the post. Sorry to say I've experienced pretty much the same stuff. Watching her dog run around with a turd in it's mouth was crazy. Mom wipes, but puts the paper in crazy places.

2 days ago she was crying as she, at times, knows she's doing bad things, but can't figure out why. She kept asking me to fix it. Wow...that was a bad day....lots of tears all around.

[robblok]

I was going to comment on this thread but I've forgotten what I was going to say.

Poor guy loosing your hair and now your mind too.

[robblok]

I don't find it a funny topic hence my remark to chicog. I have seen how it influenced my grand mother and grand father. Its a sad state of things and i hope i never ever have to go through it with my parents.

[Mosha]

In the hospital, they did not have a bed in the mental health unit. So the stuck him in the medical recovery ward. This was where folks were put after an operation. He was causing havoc in there. At night he would be wandering around pulling the patients drips out.

On a lighter note, once in the mental health unit. One of the nurses asked me a question.

"Can we ask what is he doing when he kneels on the floor?, he looks like he is measuring something." He was they say shuffling side ways and then would put his hands about a yard apart. In his working life he was a painter and decorator, and he was measuring up for wall paper.

Our family must be cursed, dad was the 3rd in his immediate family to have Alzheimers. I hope for my wife's sake it's not in my future. My younger sister and I were born in my mum's late 30s early 40s. I wasn't planned she was, so I'd have a companion of like age.

[Scott]

My mother has alzheimers and lives in assisted care. She now is doing pretty well--as well as can be expected. There is a very bad phase when she got angry and upset because she couldn't remember and was confused. Once that passed, she has become much more placid and happy. Most of the time when I talk to her on the phone she knows who I am, but sometimes she has no idea. Her environment is very consistent and very stable and I think that makes it easier.

My thoughts are with any family trying to be a caretaker. It's so difficult and it's so heartbreaking.

[craigt3365]

One thing I've read is they hallucinate. I was watching TV the other night and Mom kept reaching out into thin air to get something. This went on for almost an hour. Finally I put the TV on hold and asked what she was trying to get. Without hesitation, she said a baby bottle. Ugh...breaks your heart.

She was an extremely independent woman. Ran the accounting department for a major retail store. Now, she can't do anything. Especially since she is 80% blind. She was trying to help the maid iron today and spilled water all over everything. She's so broken up over not being able to contribute at all.

[rijb]

One thing I've read is they hallucinate. I was watching TV the other night and Mom kept reaching out into thin air to get something. This went on for almost an hour. Finally I put the TV on hold and asked what she was trying to get. Without hesitation, she said a baby bottle. Ugh...breaks your heart.

She was an extremely independent woman. Ran the accounting department for a major retail store. Now, she can't do anything. Especially since she is 80% blind. She was trying to help the maid iron today and spilled water all over everything. She's so broken up over not being able to contribute at all.

Your last sentence is very powerful. Best wishes to you guys.

[Mosha]

Apparently another symptom is a change in floor texture/colour. They see it as a barrier to step over. Dad did that. One thing he always used to say was, "I never ever want to be in a position, where I have to depend on others to take care of me." That's exactly how he ended up. At the end he was having "mini strokes", until his brain no longer was able to control his body functions

Edited February 14, 2013 by Mosha

[RickBradford]

There is some pretty comprehensive evidence to suggest that diet plays a role in Alzheimer's (along, of course, with genetics)

"Rates of Alzheimer's are low in less developed areas. A recent study compared Alzheimer's rate to dietary variables across eleven different countries and found that populations with a high fat intake and low cereal and grain intake had higher rates of the disease." -- The China Study.

[F430murci]

Good bless you people going through this. I cannot imagine and I lost my mother to MS which was a long, slow horrible death in her case.

Alzheimer's and organic brain syndrome is much more complicated than diet. People are living longer. Primary risk factor is age. Oxidative stress occurs naturally with age and a few Fish oils or Huperzine a is not going to eradicate erosion of DNA and oxidative stress.

I have worked with gerontolgists most of my career. Something in the body will break-down as people advance in age. It may be the heart, it may be organs such as the kidneys, or it may be the brain with a body kept healthy by modern science.

We all have a biological clock and even though we may be able to turn back time on some factors related to that clock, we cannot currently beat natural aging in it's entirety.

Edited February 14, 2013 by F430murci

[Mosha]

I am grateful that there are people here who can appreciate what I went through. My regret is, they are still going through it. I have no answers, just a shoulder to cry on.

[Mosha]

Good bless you people going through this. I cannot imagine and I lost my mother to MS which was a long, slow horrible death in her case.

Alzheimer's and organic brain syndrome is much more complicated than diet. People are living longer. Primary risk factor is age. Oxidative stress occurs naturally with age and a few Fish oils or Huperzine a is not going to eradicate erosion of DNA and oxidative stress.

I have worked with gerontolgists most of my career. Something in the body will break-down as people advance in age. It may be the heart, it may be organs such as the kidneys, or it may be the brain with a body kept healthy by modern science.

We all have a biological clock and even though we may be able to turn back time on some factors related to that clock, we cannot currently beat natural aging in it's entirety.

Evolution dictated a few restrictions. For some reason we think we can ignore them. Terminal illnesses, infertility, etc exist for a reason. To limit population growth, we ignore that at our peril IMHO

[Sheryl]

Mosha et al,

I know exactly what you speak of. My father had Alzheimers, died a year ago after 8 years of progressive deterioration. No one who hasn't done it can imagine how hard it is to deal with such patients.

By the time he died it was by far for the best.

My mother and I encountered more than a few raised eyebrows from people shocked that there wasn't the expected signs of grief. My mother would try to explain that she had already lost him, long before he died. But people who haven't seen it first hand have trouble imagining.

[Mosha]

Mosha et al,

I know exactly what you speak of. My father had Alzheimers, died a year ago after 8 years of progressive deterioration. No one who hasn't done it can imagine how hard it is to deal with such patients.

By the time he died it was by far for the best.

My mother and I encountered more than a few raised eyebrows from people shocked that there wasn't the expected signs of grief. My mother would try to explain that she had already lost him, long before he died. But people who haven't seen it first hand have trouble imagining.

Koreans name it right. "The long good bye". May be a support forum for the likes of us? Nothing we can do I know, but offer sympathies and how we coped in similar circumstances.

Sheryl, I'm sorry for your loss, and thankful for your understanding.

Edited February 14, 2013 by Mosha

[Mosha]

My dad's sister would ring her daughter complaining of a stranger in her bed. They had been married for 50 years. It was at my Auntie's funeral my cousin warned me to keep an eye on dad. She said he was showing the same signs her mum had shown in the early days. I think when we are living with them we miss the gradual deterioration early on, whereas family members or friends who see them say 3 or 4 times a year may pick up on it.

[Mosha]

I'm just watching something on channel 17 Gold package.

If you don't have a family history of Alzheimer's, you have a 10% risk of developing the disease in your mid to late 70's. If you do have close family history of the disease, the risk is 20%.

[Chicog]

I don't find it a funny topic hence my remark to chicog. I have seen how it influenced my grand mother and grand father. Its a sad state of things and i hope i never ever have to go through it with my parents.

I watched my mother go through it. I'd be at lunch with her, I'd be out of the car first, and she'd get out and say "what you are doing here"?

Been there done that, and forgive me for daring to have a sense of humour about it, that's what some people do.

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

I've got Alzheimers

Cheese on Toast.

What do we want?

A cure for Alzheimers!

When do we want it?

When do we want what?

By the way, the hardest part is the anger phase when victims start to realise they are a liability and take it out on everyone else.

That was the hardest part for my old man, she ended up being very mean to him, he had the patience of a saint, bless him.

We all sort of breathed a sigh of relief when she passed.

If they were horses or pets you'd want to put them down quite early on.

Good on all of you for realising it isn't their fault, but don't be afraid to see the funny side. Trust me the last thing you want to do is get dragged into the sadness of it all, it can be a long old journey.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Chicog

[Chicog]

My mother and I encountered more than a few raised eyebrows from people shocked that there wasn't the expected signs of grief. My mother would try to explain that she had already lost him, long before he died. But people who haven't seen it first hand have trouble imagining.

Exactly how we saw it. What amazed me was the deterioration in reverse chronological order. My old mum, bless her, could remember the day she first took me to primary school like it was yesterday, but she couldn't remember putting a pan on a ring (that was nearly a bad one several times). Edited February 26, 2013 by Chicog

[Mosha]

My auntie got crafty with it. As I said she didn't recognise her husband of 50 years. Of course the family all kept telling her who he was. My cousin and her husband and daughter took them on a trip to Howorth. Bronte country for the non Brits. In the car they kept saying. "You know who this is don't you mum?' She would reply. "Of course, it's Clifford. " So they got to Howorth. Uncle Clifford along with his Son in Law, and Grand Daughter walked to a gift shop. My auntie whispered to June, my cousin.

"You know June, it's not right."

June asked. "What isn't right mum."

"That bloke with Bill and Alyson, he's wearing Clifford's best suit."