While we celebrate the extraordinary accomplishment of extending longevity thirty plus years in the last century – with much of that increase being the addition of healthy, quality of life years, for many, the scary reality is that as a result of this new longevity, challenges like dementia and Alzheimer’s are now poised to become defining health conditions of this rapidly aging population and the single greatest threat to older adults.

September was Alzheimer’s Awareness month worldwide and for this reason I feel compelled to address a topic and subject matter I rarely do. My gerontological focus and passion has always been to help people rethink the aging process by recognizing the role we play in preventing much of the decline often associated with age as automatic, by living healthy, active lives. However, with Alzheimer’s, we have virtually no control. Yes, we may slow the progression, to an extent, via medications, maintaining healthy lifestyles and keeping our brain stimulated throughout our lives, but there is no cure.

Today, more than 35 million people are living with dementia worldwide. To get that into perspective, this is the same number of people living in just the United States over the age of 65. The risk factors and symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia doubles every five years after age 65, and one in two or fifty-percent of the population over age 85 (the fastest growing segment of our population), is affected. While there are 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s today, add the aging of the massive boomer generation into the mix (one-third of our population and the largest generation in history) and an estimated 13 to 16 million Americans will be stricken in the coming years.

This is no longer a problem and diagnosis about “them,” or someone else, this is about “us” and our families so it’s time we take a stance against this horrific disease that not only affects just the individual, but also has a devastating effect physically, emotionally and financially on the families, who do the majority of the care giving. Current studies estimate that nearly 15 million people are providing more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care valued at more than $200 million. And it’s taking its toll on the caregiver’s health as well – they spent $7.9 billion in additional health care costs on themselves alone just last year.

Economically, Alzheimer’s and dementia is expected to be a budget buster for Medicare, Medicaid and families. Total costs of care for individuals with Alzheimer’s is currently $184 billion annually and expected to soar to more than $1 trillion in 2050, with Medicare costs increasing more than 600%, from $88 billion today to $627 billion in 2050. During the same time period, Medicaid costs will soar 400%, from $34 billion to $178 billion.

So while these figures may just seem to be numbers with bunches of zeros behind them, when we compare them to the costs and funding of other current health issues it helps puts things into perspective. In the mid 1980s, when our country finally made a commitment to fight AIDS, it took roughly 10 years of sustained investment (and about $10 billion) to create the antiretroviral therapies that made AIDS a manageable disease. The National Institutes of Health still spends six times the amount (about $3 billion a year) on AIDS research as it does on Alzheimer’s, which has five times as many victims yet receives a mere $469 million in research funds annually.

The fact is, Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading killer and the only cause of death among the top 10 in America without any way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression. If we could prevent or eliminate Alzheimer’s disease as Dr. Jonas Salk wiped out polio with his vaccine, we would not only greatly expand the potential of all Americans to live long, healthy and productive lives – but we would also save trillions of dollars doing it. We need more awareness in this country of this reality, more education about it and long term care, and more people to be actively involved who demand a call for action.

Whether the aging of America turns out to be a triumph or a tragedy may very well depend on our ability to beat this epidemic before it beats us – it’s time for all of us to act.

To learn more about Alzheimer’s and the 10 Warning Signs of the Disease, visit the Alzheimer’s Assoc website at www.alz.org

Kelly Ferrin, gerontologist, longevity expert and author of “What’s Age Got To Do With It? Secrets to Aging in Extraordinary Ways” has been studying aging and retirement issues for over 25 years. She was one of the first to ever receive a degree in this field from the prestigious Andrus School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, the top school in the nation for the study of age-related issues.

website: kellyferrin.com ••• email: ageangel@earthlink.net