Alzheimer’s Disease is a global epidemic. If you have not been directly impacted by this disease yet, you will soon. As of 2015, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s every 67 seconds with over 5.4 million people diagnosed in the US alone. In 2014, over 500,000 people died from AD, and it kills more than breast and prostate cancer combined every year; unfortunately, two-thirds of these are women. What’s more disheartening is that the disclosure diagnosis rate for cancer is at 90% while Alzheimer’s is only 45% from doctors, and many factors affecting that number include the lack of geriatricians and neurologists available and qualified to diagnose Alzheimer’s, to the unwillingness of patients to get an official diagnosis.
Currently, the cost to our nation for care is at 226 billion (up 10 billion since 2013) with global spending at over 604 billion, and by 2030 over 76 million baby boomers will be at risk. Unfortunately, one of the only ways to receive more federal and National Institute of Health funding is for the disclosure percentage to increase. We know there are hundreds of thousands out there with forms of dementia, and they are not only missing a proper diagnosis, but we also have cause of death reports labeled as cardiac arrest for these patients, instead of organ failure caused by symptoms from Alzheimer’s Disease. Therefore, our nation’s top neurologists and Alzheimer’s experts have deduced and believe that this disease is actually the 3rd or 4th leading cause of death as opposed to 6th as reported. Without patient history, emergency room doctors have no way of pronouncing an accurate cause of death.
Currently, the cost to our nation for care is at 226 billion (up 10 billion since 2013) with global spending at over 604 billion, and by 2030 over 76 million baby boomers will be at risk. Unfortunately, one of the only ways to receive more federal and National Institute of Health funding is for the disclosure percentage to increase. We know there are hundreds of thousands out there with forms of dementia, and they are not only missing a proper diagnosis, but we also have cause of death reports labeled as cardiac arrest for these patients, instead of organ failure caused by symptoms from Alzheimer’s Disease. Therefore, our nation’s top neurologists and Alzheimer’s experts have deduced and believe that this disease is actually the 3rd or 4th leading cause of death as opposed to 6th as reported. Without patient history, emergency room doctors have no way of pronouncing an accurate cause of death.
What can you do? Get involved! Raise awareness and join us in the fight to put an end to Alzheimer’s. Your local Alzheimer’s Association hosts the Walk to End Alzheimer’s every year at this time, and they need your support. Please consider visiting www.alz.org to find or start a team near you, or make a donation online for one of my teams: http://act.alz.org/goto/TeamRockwood.
If you need assistance with your loved one or have questions, please call 1-800-272-3900.
Pictured: Dr. Randall Bateman, Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in charge of the DIAN project (Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network), among other appointments. The DIAN project focuses on Familial Early Onset Alzheimer’s, where one’s passed down genetic code determines that they will, in fact, have Alzheimer’s with symptoms sometimes appearing in their 30s. Numerous people all over the globe have come to St. Louis specifically for the DIAN clinical trials run by Dr. Bateman, who just received a prestigious award at the Alzheimer’s National Convention for his service.
#EndAlz #AlzheimersAssociation
If you need assistance with your loved one or have questions, please call 1-800-272-3900.
Pictured: Dr. Randall Bateman, Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in charge of the DIAN project (Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network), among other appointments. The DIAN project focuses on Familial Early Onset Alzheimer’s, where one’s passed down genetic code determines that they will, in fact, have Alzheimer’s with symptoms sometimes appearing in their 30s. Numerous people all over the globe have come to St. Louis specifically for the DIAN clinical trials run by Dr. Bateman, who just received a prestigious award at the Alzheimer’s National Convention for his service.
#EndAlz #AlzheimersAssociation
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