This week the Alzheimer’s Association reminded us that as the baby boomer population continues to grow in the United States, so will the number of Alzheimer’s cases. They are referring to this phenomenon as the “Silver Tsunami”.
Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in America. At any given time this disease affects over 5 million lives in the United States alone.
As we reported in the blog post Alzheimer’s Disease 2010 Facts & Figures, from 2000-2006 death rates have declined for almost all major diseases – heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, stroke and HIV/AIDS – while deaths from Alzheimer’s disease during this same period rose more than 46%.
Unfortunately science is still baffled by Alzheimer’s. Although there are some innovative methods on the horizon for early detection, many health officials fear that we are ill-prepared for the degree in which this disease is going to affect us in the near future.
The good news is that many states foresee this upcoming issue and are planning accordingly. There are already 12 states with plans in preparation for the increase, and an additional 18 states in the process of building the same. These are comprehensive plans that include input from residential and community care providers, legislators, state agencies, professional and family caregivers, and also include input from Alzheimer’s disease patients themselves.
As America is struggling to return from our recent recession many states are cash strapped and so it is feared that this important issue might not get addressed appropriately. Here is an excerpt from the Alzheimer’s Association’s open letter:
“… as states struggle to balance unprecedented budget deficits, the Alzheimer’s Association sent a in support of extending the enhanced FMAP rate to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Without this money, we know states will have to make deeper cuts to the services and supports important to persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their families.”
This is an important issue that touches most of us. If you would like more information regarding the current situation in your own state and/or how you can help, a good place to start is your local Alzheimer’s Association Chapter.
One Comment
No one will be ready for the ‘silver tsunami’. Science appears to be divided by following the money (the pharma group), the genome challenge, the social challenge (which remains my fascination,) and the medical challenge. The media focuses the disease on the individual, in the same manner that say, automobile use is portrayed: in turn, the individual has no idea of the social ramifications that this will bring to society. Can you imagine in twenty years the NRA arguing that an Alzh. individual has a right to a gun? They will, undoubtedly, but what will be at stake is a deeper understanding of what aging looks like in the Western world circa 21st century man. I’ve yet to read an article of excitement as we enter a new understanding of the capacity for the growth of mind, it is time to give the epidemiologists a share of the pie.