November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. If you know nine people over the age of 65, at least one of them has Alzheimer’s disease. Learn 10 facts about the disease that may change your life, and check out highlights of how Sanford-Burnham is contributing to the efforts to diagnose, prevent, and treat this devastating disease.
- Every 68 seconds, a person in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s disease.
- Alzheimer’s is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory, thinking skills, and is eventually fatal.
- Alzheimer’s afflicts more than five million Americans.
- Almost two thirds of Alzheimer’s patients are women.
- Studies show that people age 65 and older survive an average of four to eight years after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
- The average family caring for a relative with Alzheimer’s can expect to spend $215,000 throughout the course of the disease.
- Alzheimer’s is the most expensive condition in the U.S., in large part because of the intensive caregiving that’s required.
- Although treatment can help manage symptoms of the disease in some people, there is no cure for this devastating disease.
- The NIH spent over $500 million dollars on Alzheimer’s research in 2013.
- The only definitive diagnosis for Alzheimer’s is a brain biopsy.
Also check out these stories that highlight Sanford-Burnham’s Alzheimer’s disease research:
Why people with Down syndrome invariably develop Alzheimer’s disease Researcher’s discover a “switch” in Alzheimer’s and stroke patient brains Blocking the build-up of toxic free radicals in the brain could prevent Alzheimer’s disease Reversing the loss of brain connections in Alzheimer’s disease