To truly understand just how catastrophic an illness Alzheimer's is, consider that it is the only cause of death among the top 10 in the U.S. that can't yet be prevented, cured or even slowed. Someone diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or even HIV/AIDS has a better chance of surviving — and having a better quality of life while battling the disease — than a person diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are now 5.3 million Americans age 65 and older living with the disease. The total direct cost to the U.S. economy of caring for those with Alzheimer's: a staggering $226 billion, with half being borne by Medicare.
Delaying the onset of the disease by just five years, research studies show, could decrease Medicare spending by 50 percent. That's an important point to consider, because economists forecast that unless something is done to cure or even slow the symptoms, the number of people with Alzheimer's will rise to 16 million by 2050 and cost the U.S. economy $1.1 trillion. The portion covered by Medicare will balloon to $589 billion.
Closer to home, the financial burden of caring for someone with Alzheimer's can be devastating. According to a recent study by the Annals of Internal Medicine, the cost of caring for a person with Alzheimer's in the last five years of life is $287,038.
That's far higher than the costs incurred for a person who died from cancer or heart disease. The reason: Alzheimer's patients need the kind of care at the end of their lives — bathing, dressing and eating — that's not covered by insurance. This puts a tremendous burden on a spouse or, in many cases, adult children who may be trying to save for their own retirement or have college tuitions to pay.
One point that all the experts we spoke with agree on is that federal funding for Alzheimer's research needs to increase — and soon. Currently, just under $1 billion a year is allocated for Alzheimer's research. That's far less than the $5 billion spent on cancer or the $3 billion on HIV/AIDS research, according to the Alzheimer's Association.
"This is clearly the underfunded and understudied problem of the 21st century," says Dr. Bruce Miller, director of the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California, San Francisco. "We've made a lot of progress in therapies around heart disease, cancer and stroke, and we need to move faster in Alzheimer's research. If we can't find better therapies for an aging brain, as a society we will dramatically suffer."