Did you know that today has been designated as World Alzheimer’s Day?  Alzheimer’s is a degenerative neurological disease affecting millions worldwide.  The theme for this year’s World Alzheimer’s Day is: Diagnosing Dementia: See It Sooner. The ultimate goal of World Alzheimer’s Day is to gain the attention of the media and to ensure legislative bodies and political entities across the world are reminded of the impact that Alzheimer’s and dementia will have on our growing elderly population.  Every 70 seconds someone is diagnosed with dementia.  We need to raise awareness so healthcare practitioners recognize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment as a way to slow the progression of the disease.

The Alzheimer’s Association provides us with the following facts:
• There are as many as 5.3 million people in the United States living with Alzheimer’s.

• Alzheimer’s and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older.

• Alzheimer’s is the seventh-leading cause of death.

• The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year.
These are just a few of the facts in the new report, 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. The report is a comprehensive statistical abstract of data from the United States on Alzheimer’s disease that includes:

• prevalence
• mortality
• the costs of Alzheimer care
• caregiving
• a special report on Mild Cognitive Impairment and early-stage Alzheimer’s

There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s, however, there are many medications on the market that have the proven ability to slow the progression of the disease. Common drugs approved to slow the progression of the disease include Namenda, Reminyl, Aricept, and Exelon. Although research has afforded us the ability to slow the progression of the disease, we still need a cure. Worldwide, there will be memory walks, lectures, and other activities to help raise funds for the research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. The following is a list of some of the sights where you can get involved, and maybe, be a part of the Memory Walk for a Cure.

In the United States
http://www.alz.org/memorywalk/overview.asp
Alzheimer’s Association
http://www.alz.org/index.asp

In the United Kingdom
Alzheimer’s Disease International
64 Great Suffolk Street
London, SE I OBL
United Kingdom
info@alz.co.uk
http://www.alz.co.uk/adi/wad

Tagged as: alzheimer, Dementia, Health, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Neurological Disorders