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Alzheimer's costs on the rise in W.Va.

Fayette Tribune - 4/5/2018

For the second consecutive year, the total national cost of caring for people living with Alzheimer's is projected to surpass a quarter of a trillion dollars.

The 2018 Alzheimer's Association report said since last year, the cost has increased nearly $20 billion.

In West Virginia, the Medicaid costs to care for people with Alzheimer's are expected to reach $414 million in 2018. The cost is expected to grow by 23.6 percent over the next seven years.

Nationwide, an estimated 5.7 million people have Alzheimer's dementia, including 38,000 in West Virginia.

Those numbers are expected to rise. By 2025, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer's dementia is expected to reach 7.1 million - a 29 percent increase from this year's figures.

In West Virginia, the Alzheimer's Association projects a 15.8 percent growth by 2025 in the number of people with Alzheimer's or another dementia.

Other statistics in the 2018 report include the following:

Alzheimer's deaths have more than doubled in the last 15 years, while deaths from other major illnesses and medical conditions, such as heart disease, have significantly decreased.

Burden on Alzheimer's caregivers continues to grow. In 2017, more than 16 million Americans provided an estimated 18.4 billion hours of unpaid care in the form of physical, emotional and financial support - a contribution to the nation valued at $232.1 billion.

In West Virginia, 106,000 caregivers provided a total of 121 million hours of unpaid care, valued at a total of $1.53 billion. The difficulties associated with providing this level of care are estimated to have resulted in $458 million in additional health care costs for dementia caregivers in 2017.

Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and it's the only one of the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression.

For more information, visit alz.org/facts.

Email: wholdren@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @WendyHoldren

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