How Many People Die A Year From Alzheimer’s

September 24, 2021

149

% Of Alzheimers Disease Patients In The Us Are Women

How Do You Die From Alzheimer’s?

Based on one study that compared women in their mid-life and men in their mid-life, women had 30% more plaques related to Alzheimers, and 22% had lower brain energy levels. In addition, 11% showed more brain shrinkage.;

Scientists believe that menopause can be the primary predictor of Alzheimers changes in the brain.

What Is Dementia And What Is Alzheimer’s Disease

Dementia refers to a set of symptoms and signs associated with a progressive deterioration of cognitive functions that affects daily activities. It is caused by various brain diseases and injuries. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. Vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and Lewy body dementia constitute other common types. Symptoms of dementia can include memory loss, judgement and reasoning problems, and changes in behaviour, mood and communication abilities.Footnote 4

At A Glance: The Top 5 Leading Causes Of Death In England And Wales In 2020

In 2020, the top five causes of death were:

COVID-19
Dementia and Alzheimers
Ischaemic heart disease
Cerebrovascular disease
Lung-based cancers .

For deaths with a primary cause attributed to dementia, the 2020 figure shows a decrease in percentage from 12.5% in 2019 and 12.8% in 2018. This reduction has likely been impacted by coronavirus-related dementia deaths and a decreased diagnosis rate.;

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Your support could fund vital dementia research;that;could be life-changing for people living with dementia. Please donate to dementia research.;

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Federal Research Funding Is Inadequate For The Scope Of The Problem

The research community believes it will be possible to prevent or control Alzheimers within the next 10 years if adequate research funding and other reforms to accelerate the drug pipeline are put in place.
However, federal research funding is a fraction of that of other major diseases.
For every dollar the federal government spends today on the costs of Alzheimers care, it invests less than a penny in research to find a cure.

Causes Of Death In People With Alzheimer’s Disease

Claudia Chaves, MD, is board-certified in cerebrovascular disease and neurology with a subspecialty certification in vascular neurology. She is an associate professor of neurology at Tufts Medical School and medical director of the Lahey Clinic Multiple Sclerosis Center in Lexington, Massachusetts.

The Alzheimer’s Association notes that Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. It also points out that out of the top 10 causes of death, it’s the only one without an effective treatment or cure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also highlights Alzheimer’s as a significant;cause of death, pointing out that between 1999 and 2014, deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s rose;by 55%.

One of the challenges in tracking deaths from Alzheimer’s;is that Alzheimer’s disease;is not always identified as the cause of death on a death certificate. Sometimes, the conditions that develop from Alzheimer’s are listed instead as primary on the death certificate. In other cases, Alzheimer’s may have never been officially diagnosed. These challenges in tracking Alzheimer’s deaths are demonstrated in one study that found that deaths from Alzheimer’s;in people over the age of 75 may be as high as six times the count officially recorded.

Average life expectancy for people living with Alzheimer’s is four to seven years after diagnosis, although some people may live as much as 20 years or more.

Mortality Due To Any Cause

All-cause mortality rates increase with age. In 20132014, for Canadians with dementia, the rate was 75.5 deaths per 1,000 population in the 6569;years age group, and it reached 207.2 deaths per 1,000 population in the 85;years and older age group. However, as the overall mortality among Canadians with and without dementia increases later in life, mortality rates between the two groups tend to converge. In other words, the all-cause mortality rate ratios decrease with age. In 20132014, the rate ratio was 7.6 in the 6569;years age group, and it decreased to 2.9 in the 85;years and older age group.

Since 20032004, all-cause mortality rates have decreased among all Canadians. Among Canadians with dementia however, rates decreased at a slower pace. This is illustrated by the increasing rate ratios between 20032004 and 20132014. In 20132014, the age-standardized all-cause mortality rate was about four times higher among seniors with dementia compared to those without .

Figure;2: Age-standardized all-cause mortality rates and rate ratios among Canadians aged 65;years and older with and without diagnosed dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, Canada, 20032004 to 20132014

Text description: Figure;2Figure;2: Age-standardized all-cause mortality rates and rate ratios among Canadians aged 65;years and older with and without diagnosed dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, Canada, 20032004 to 20132014

Fiscal year
25.3	4.3

Deaths Where Dementia And Alzheimers Disease Was A Contributory Factor

The following analysis will focus on deaths where dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was not the underlying cause of death but was mentioned on the death certificate as a contributory factor.

This has been carried out in line with the leading causes of death groupings, based on a list developed by the World Health Organization . This categorises causes of death using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition into groups that are epidemiologically more meaningful than single ICD-10 codes, for the purpose of comparing the most common causes of death in the population.

As mentioned previously, the number of deaths registered due to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in England and Wales in 2019 was 66,424. However, when we consider the number of deaths involving dementia and Alzheimer’s disease , this number increases to 93,568 deaths registered .

Of the deaths where dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was mentioned on the death certificate but not as the underlying cause, the most common underlying cause for males was cerebrovascular diseases and Parkinson’s disease , and the most common underlying cause for females was cerebrovascular disease . Table 2a and 2b show what other causes were most common as underlying causes of death where dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was mentioned on the death certificate.

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What Is The Cost Of Alzheimers Disease On Caregivers

Caregivers of patients with Alzheimers and dementia shoulder a heavy load. The latest facts on Alzheimers show that caregivers spent over 18.5 billion hours of their own time last year, a contribution valued at nearly $234 billion, according to the Alzheimers Associations report. In addition, the report found that 83 percent of these caregiversmostly family and friendswere unpaid.

Similar to last year, nearly two-thirds of these caregivers were women. Among these caregivers, 41 percent made a combined household income of $50,000 or less. The total lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia was estimated at $350,174 in 2018, the Alzheimers Association said.

Specific Information In This Report

Dementia: The Causes

Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures

Brain changes that occur with Alzheimer’s disease.
Risk factors for Alzheimer’s dementia.
Number of Americans with Alzheimer’s dementia nationally and for each state.
Lifetime risk for developing Alzheimer’s dementia.
Proportion of women and men with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
Number of deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease nationally and for each state, and death rates by age.
Number of family caregivers, hours of care provided, and economic value of unpaid care nationally and for each state.
The impact of caregiving on caregivers.
National cost of care for individuals with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, including costs paid by Medicare and Medicaid and costs paid out of pocket.
Medicare payments for people with dementia compared with people without dementia.
Number of geriatricians needed by state in 2050.

The Appendices detail sources and methods used to derive statistics in this report.

When possible, specific information about Alzheimer’s disease is provided; in other cases, the reference may be a more general one of âAlzheimer’s or other dementias.â

Changes In The Way Uk Deaths Are Recorded

Reliable death records are important to follow changes in the impact of diseases and to decide priorities for medical research. In 2011, the ONS made changes to the way deaths due to dementia are recorded to better reflect guidance from the World Health Organisation .;

Now if a person dies with dementia, doctors can report it as the main cause of death on their death certificate. Previously, the immediate cause of death would be listed, such as a fall or an infection like pneumonia.;

But in many cases, these illnesses are a result of underlying dementia causing increased frailty, a weakened immune system, or problems with swallowing.;

The ONS also updated their coding system so that vascular dementia would be reflected in the dementia category instead of the stroke category.;

Trends In The Prevalence And Incidence Of Alzheimer’s Dementia Over Time

A growing number of studies indicate that the prevalence, – and incidence, , – of Alzheimer’s and other dementias in the United States and other higher-income Western countries may have declined in the past 25 years,, , – though results are mixed., , , These declines have been attributed to increasing levels of education and improved control of cardiovascular risk factors., , , , , Such findings are promising and suggest that identifying and reducing risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other dementias may be effective. Although these findings indicate that a person’s risk of dementia at any given age may be decreasing slightly, the total number of people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias in the United States and other high-income Western countries is expected to continue to increase dramatically because of the increase in the number of people at the oldest ages.

3.7.1 Looking to the future: Aging of the baby boom generation

By 2025, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s dementia is projected to reach 7.1 million â almost a 22% increase from the 5.8 million age 65 and older affected in 2020.,
By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s dementia is projected to reach 13.8 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent, slow or cure Alzheimer’s disease.,

FIGURE 5

Alzheimer’s Is A Growing Epidemic

More than 5.8 million Americans now have Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050, nearly 14 million Americans over age 65 could be living with the disease, unless scientists develop new approaches to prevent or cure it.1,2 However, estimates based on high-range projections of population growth provided by the U.S. Census suggest that this number may be as high as 16 million.1

Figure : Dementia And Alzheimers Disease Had The Highest Number Of Mentions For Deaths Due To Dementia And Alzheimers Disease In Part Ii Of The Death Certificate

Number of mentions in Part II of the death certificate, by leading cause, England and Wales, 2019

Notes:

Part II of the death certificate is where a cause can be noted on a death certificate as contributing to the death but not related to the disease or condition causing it. However, for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, coding changes that took place in 2014 can mean this is not the case.

The coding changes included a change in the coding of chest infections which contributed to a reduction of 2.5% in deaths allocated an underlying cause of respiratory disease and an increase of 7.0% in those allocated to the mental and behavioural disorders chapter, which includes dementia.

Deaths given an underlying cause of dementia were also increased by a rule change to count aspiration pneumonia as being a consequence of one of a number of other conditions. The total percentage change in deaths attributed to an underlying cause of dementia was 7.1%.

This means that there are coding rules that state conditions like aspiration pneumonia and chest infections can be a consequence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This results in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease being selected as the underlying cause of death, even if it is recorded as a contributory factor in Part II. A plausible causal chain can be created by including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease even if it is recorded in Part II, which is why it is then selected as the underlying cause of death.

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Alzheimers Deaths Higher Than Previously Thought

Alzheimers disease and other dementias are routinely under-reported on U.S. death certificates, James said. People filling out the certificates typically focus on the immediate cause of death say, pneumonia, when the patient wouldnt have developed pneumonia without first having Alzheimers disease.

Take Carol Steinbergs father, Michael Steinberg, a bookkeeper who died in 1997 in Deerfield Beach, Fla., at age 84 after a dozen years of living with Alzheimers disease. His causes of death included cardiac arrest, sepsis and pressure ulcers, or bedsores, but not the disease that actually killed him, she said.

I always remember it bothered my mother, said Steinberg, who is now president of the Alzheimers Foundation of America in New York. Its sort of a smack in the face not to see that actual cause of death on the death certificate. Its not the full story of what the family has gone through. Its not the full story of what the person has gone through.

To calculate the actual effect of Alzheimers deaths, James and his colleagues studied more than 2,500 people aged 65 and older who are part of two large cohorts of elderly people who agreed to be tested for dementia and to donate their brains after death.

Over an average of eight years, 1,090 patients died. Some 559 people who didnt have dementia at the start of the study developed the disease, with a median time from diagnosis to death of nearly 4 years. The average age of the participants was 78.

Unpaid Caregivers Need Help

Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s or another dementia is often extremely difficult, and many family and other unpaid caregivers experience high levels of emotional stress and depression as a result.14
Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease has been found to have a negative impact on the health, employment, income, and financial security of many caregivers.15

How Many People Have Alzheimers Disease Worldwide

Recent statistics show that about 50 million people around the world have Alzheimers disease or another type of dementia.

Facts from the World Health Organization reveal that about 60 percent of people living with dementia worldwide are from a low- or middle-income country.

The total number of people with dementia is projected to reach 82 million in 2030 and 152 million in 2050, WHO said. To put that in perspective, the current population of the U.S. is 329 million.

In fact, dementia is now the leading cause of death in the United Kingdom, pushing heart disease into second place. This finding comes from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Office for National Statistics.

Alzheimers And Other Dementia Deaths

Later stage dementia: Bruce and Jan’s story

:;17 August 2021Next update: August 2022Frequency: Annual

This section presents information on the numbers of deaths which had an underlying cause of dementia or Alzheimers disease.

;

Statistics for other parts of the United Kingdom

Further information for the rest of the UK can be found via the following website links:

England & Wales : Office for National Statistics, Deaths by cause
Northern Ireland : Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Deaths by cause

Note : Figures for England & Wales and/or Northern Ireland may not always be on exactly the same basis as National Records of Scotland figures: there can be differences in the coverage of what at first sight appear to be the same statistics.

A;list of common definitions and acronyms used in;this publication;is available on our Glossary page.

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Living Conditions And Lack Of Social Distancing Mask

by Bruce Horovitz, AARP, March 12, 2021| 0

En español | The cruelty of the COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on all Americans, but few with more catastrophic impact than those suffering from Alzheimer’s and other dementias, according to a new report from the Alzheimer’s Association.

Deaths from Alzheimer’s and other dementias skyrocketed 16 percent killing at least 42,000 additional vulnerable older Americans in 2020 compared with the averages over the previous five years, noted the 2021 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.

Just as alarming: deaths due to Alzheimer’s between 2000 and 2019 more than doubled, jumping 145 percent during that period.

Now, even as the nation is being vaccinated entering the second year of the pandemic, the overall Alzheimer’s numbers are nothing short of staggering. Some 6.2 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia. That’s more than 1 in 9 people over age 65 and roughly two-thirds of those over age 65 with Alzheimer’s dementia are women.

Why Do We Need To Know The Reasons People Die

It is important to know why people die to improve how people live. Measuring how many people die each year helps to assess the effectiveness of our health systems and direct resources to where they are needed most. For example, mortality data can help focus activities and resource allocation among sectors such as transportation, food and agriculture, and the environment as well as health.

COVID-19 has highlighted the importance for countries to invest in civil registration and vital statistics systems to allow daily counting of deaths, and direct prevention and treatment efforts. It has also revealed inherent fragmentation in data collection systems in most low-income countries, where policy-makers still do not know with confidence how many people die and of what causes.;

To address this critical gap, WHO has partnered with global actors to launch Revealing the Toll of COVID-19: Technical Package for Rapid Mortality Surveillance and Epidemic Response. By providing the tools and guidance for rapid mortality surveillance, countries can collect data on total number of deaths by day, week, sex, age and location, thus enabling health leaders to trigger more timely efforts for improvements to health.

The routine collection and analysis of high-quality data on deaths and causes of death, as well as data on disability, disaggregated by age, sex and geographic location, is essential for improving health and reducing deaths and disability across the world.

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