The swelling aging population may accelerate the financial costs of dementia to surpass those of heart disease and cancer.
The estimated prevalence of dementia among persons older than 70 years of age in the United States in 2010 was 14.7%. The yearly monetary cost per person that was attributable to dementia was upwards of $41,000, equating to a population-wide cost of $215 billion. RAND (California, USA) researchers warn that the dementia burden is expected to increase nearly 80% per adult by 2040.
