Home

14 Million Baby Boomers Sentenced to Alzheimers

Wed, 05/17/2000 - 12:00am — Karen Stevenson
Description: 

The Alzheimer's Association reported that the number of people who will be afflicted by Alzheimer's will increase by 350% by the middle of this century, if the disease continues to grow at current rates. The only way to avoid the epidemic is to accelerate the search for a way to delay, prevent or cure the disease.

"Large scale trials are expensive - $15 million to $20 million each - and they take at least five years to get results," said Dr. Steven DeKosky, chairman of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association. "Scientists now know that brain cells begin to change 10 years or more before the symptoms of Alzheimer's appear. We do not have enough time left to do these five-year trials one at a time. Scientists have many more good ideas for effective treatments than they can test with current funding. An estimated 14 million baby boomers are living with a sentence of Alzheimer's disease today."

The Alzheimer's Association reports that without a research breakthrough the Alzheimer's epidemic alone will cost enough to bankrupt Medicare. At present, annual per capita expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease are $7,682, almost 70 percent more than the average of $4,524 for other beneficiaries. And that's true even though Medicare pays for almost no long-term care.

"The best scientific minds have been brought into the race for the answers to Alzheimer's disease," said Alzheimer's Association Vice President Stephen McConnell. "A solid research infrastructure is in place. The paths for further investigation are clear. The missing ingredient is the money needed to realize the scientific opportunities before us."

The Alzheimer's Association reported that the number of people who will be afflicted by Alzheimer's will increase by 350% by the middle of this century, if the disease continues to grow at current rates. The only way to avoid the epidemic is to accelerate the search for a way to delay, prevent or cure the disease.

"Large scale trials are expensive - $15 million to $20 million each - and they take at least five years to get results," said Dr. Steven DeKosky, chairman of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association. "Scientists now know that brain cells begin to change 10 years or more before the symptoms of Alzheimer's appear. We do not have enough time left to do these five-year trials one at a time. Scientists have many more good ideas for effective treatments than they can test with current funding. An estimated 14 million baby boomers are living with a sentence of Alzheimer's disease today."

The Alzheimer's Association reports that without a research breakthrough the Alzheimer's epidemic alone will cost enough to bankrupt Medicare. At present, annual per capita expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease are $7,682, almost 70 percent more than the average of $4,524 for other beneficiaries. And that's true even though Medicare pays for almost no long-term care.

"The best scientific minds have been brought into the race for the answers to Alzheimer's disease," said Alzheimer's Association Vice President Stephen McConnell. "A solid research infrastructure is in place. The paths for further investigation are clear. The missing ingredient is the money needed to realize the scientific opportunities before us."