What is Alzheimers?
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia.
It is a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment.
Alzheimer’s disease involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language.
It can seriously affect a person’s ability to carry out daily activities.
-CDC
How Alzheimer’s Changes the Brain
Warning Signs of Alzheimer's
Memory loss that disrupts daily life, such as getting lost in a familiar place or repeating questions
Trouble handling money and paying bills.
Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure.
Decreased or poor judgment.
Misplacing things and being unable to retrace steps to find them.
Changes in mood, personality, or behavior.
-CDC
Alzheimer's Prevention
Alzheimer's disease is not a preventable condition. However, a number of lifestyle risk factors for Alzheimer's can be modified. Evidence suggests that changes in diet, exercise and habits — steps to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease — may also lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other disorders that cause dementia. Heart-healthy lifestyle choices that may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's include the following:
Exercising regularly
Eating a diet of fresh produce, healthy oils and foods low in saturated fat such as a Mediterranean diet
Following treatment guidelines to manage high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol
Asking your doctor for help to quit smoking if you smoke
Alzheimer's Fast Facts
More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million.
1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
In 2020, COVID-19 contributed to a 17% increase in Alzheimer's and dementia deaths.
In 2022, Alzheimer's and other dementias will cost the nation $321 billion. By 2050, these costs could reach nearly $1 trillion.
More than 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias.
In 2021, these caregivers provided more than 16 billion hours of care valued at nearly $272 billion.
Fewer than 1 in 5 Americans are familiar with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which can be an early stage of Alzheimer's.
90% of physicians say it's important to diagnose MCI due to Alzheimer's, but over half say they are not fully comfortable diagnosing it.
About one-third of people with MCI due to Alzheimer's disease develop dementia within 5 years of diagnosis.
Resources
Alzheimer’s Symptoms & Causes Mayo Clinic
Alzheimer's Facts & Figures (Alzheimer’s Association)