Number of Alzheimers Patients in US Expected to Exceed 13 Milli

Experts have warned that unless new ways to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s are quickly discovered, the number of people in the US with the condition will triple by 2050. The estimates, which were made by Dr Denis A Evans from Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, are based on data collected for the 2000 census. Evans and colleagues analysed data from three neighborhoods in Chicago and then converted the results to apply to the whole of the US population. The researchers estimate that 4.5-million US citizens were suffering from Alzheimer’s in 2000. However, due to the aging of the US population, the researchers predict that this figure will increase to a staggering 13.2-million by 2050 unless significant headway is made towards treating or preventing the disease.

SOURCE/REFERENCE: Arch Neurol 2003;60:1119-1122.