Alzheimer's Assocation: 2025 Facts and Figures Report

Jenni Chase talks about the Alzheimer's Assocation.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This time around on health matters. We're chatting with Cindy Shellhorn.
She is the senior director of Communications in Marketing for
the Alzheimer's Association National Capital Area Chapter. The Alzheimer's Association's
annual Facts and Figures Report just came out. Cindy, please
share some info on the twenty twenty five summary.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
We take a look at the burden of Alzheimer's disease
on the nation, on families, caregivers, and our economy. And
this year we are actually seeing that the number of
people in our country who are living with Alzheimer's disease
has surpassed seven million. We are expecting this year that
over seven point two million people are living with the disease,

(00:40):
and given the trajectory of the disease, which is increasing
year over year, we think that number is projected to
double by the year twenty six.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Okay, I just got goosebumps when you said that. That's staggering.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
One of the things that we know is that age
is the greatest risk factor for developing the disease right
and so right now, for people who are aged sixty
five and older, Alzheimer's disease is now the sixth leading
cause of death Tindy.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
The numbers are significant, and I think when we talk
about cost, what people may not realize is that Alzheimer's
is actually one of the most costly diseases. Not just
for the people who are living with the disease, their families,
their caregivers, it's also a tremendous financial burden on our government,

(01:29):
and the toll of that is continuing to rise. Right now.
We are projecting in twenty twenty five that the cost
of Alzheimer's to our nation is going to be three
hundred and eighty four billion dollars. This is a twenty
four billion dollar increase over last year. The majority of

(01:50):
what we see is sixty four percent of that cost
being born by Medicare and Medicaid that is roughly two
hundred and forty six billion dollars. But we also see
the burden on families and out of pockets spending that's
about twenty five percent of the cost, roughly ninety seven
billion dollars. One of the things that is so frightening

(02:14):
about this is that the lifetime cost of caring for
somebody with the disease. Right now, average lifespan of a
person living with Alzheimer's is about nine years, although we
have seen very short durations of the disease and some
that have been as long as twenty years. But right now,
if we were to use that nine year timeframe, we
would look at total lifetime care being just about four

(02:36):
hundred thousand dollars. What's really frightening, Jenny is that forty
one percent of our caregivers right now have a household
income of fifty thousand dollars or less, and the burden
is particularly heavy on women. We know that about two
thirds of the dementia caregivers are women, and surprisingly over

(02:57):
a third of those are daughters taking care of parents.
So as always, we have a free twenty four to
seven helpline that is available around the clock anytime, day
or night. Translation service is available. Please call eight hundred
two seven to two three nine zero zero. We have

(03:18):
trained specialists waiting to talk with you about your concerns
about the disease. You also can visit our website alz
Dorg to find out the latest on treatments, the latest
facts figures that are coming out, also the resources that
are available to help you and your family and your friends,

(03:39):
colleagues go through this journey. You're not alone. We're here
for you.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
This time around. On health matters. We're chatting with Cindy Shellhorn.
She is the Senior Director of Communications in Marketing for
the Alzheimer's Association National Capital Area Chapter. The Alzheimer's Association's
annual Fax and Figures Report just came out. Cindy, please
share some info on the twenty twenty five summary