Women are “at the epicenter” of the crisis caused by Alzheimer’s disease according to a recent report: they are more at risk of developing it, but also that of dying from it.
“Alzheimer’s disease isn’t just memory loss – it kills. In its latest inventory of this neurodegenerative disorder, the American Alzheimer’s Association paints a painful picture: one in nine people over 65 is affected.
Alzheimer’s, unlike the other most common diseases, is on the rise. It is the second leading cause of death among seniors, just after heart attack. The number of deaths has jumped 68% in 10 years. It is the only one of the 6 deadliest diseases to record an increase: HIV, cancer and stroke are on the decline. Alzheimer’s disease is also the only one of this “top” that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed down.
There are an estimated 5 million patients with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States and a new case is counted every 67 seconds, according to this report. “Women are at the epicenter of the crisis,” note its authors. The facts confirm it: the risk of developing the disease is twice as high among women … and a majority of patients who die from it are women (66%).
We are only at the beginnings if this report is to be believed: the number of Alzheimer’s patients is expected to jump 200% by 2050 and reach nearly 14 million cases. As long as no treatment is put in place, life expectancy is greatly reduced: the probability of dying within a decade is twice as high for a patient with Alzheimer’s, at the same age.
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