- Explain to patients who ask that the increase in Alzheimer's disease prevalence outlined in this report was predicted to occur by epidemiologists and demographic experts, on the basis of the rising occurrence of the disease with age and the "graying" of the U.S. population.
- Note that the prevalence estimates come from an extrapolation of 2003 data.
CHICAGO, March 20 -- More than five million older Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, a 10% increase in prevalence from just five years ago, according to an estimate commissioned by the Alzheimer's Association.
In its 2007 Alzheimer's Facts and Figures, the association estimated that 2.4 million people age from the ages of 75 to 84 years -- 19% of the all U.S. adults in this age range -- have Alzheimer's.
Among Americans ages 85 and older, an estimated 42%, or 2.2 million people, are living with dementia, the report stated.
Alzheimer's Association estimated that there are 300,000 Americans ages 65 to 74 with Alzheimer's (2% of the U.S. population for this age range).
