Alzheimer's cases said to triple by 2050

By 2050, the number of United States residents ages 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple to 13.8 million.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that diminishes the memory and causes people to be unable to care for themselves, eventually completely erasing someone’s personality.

As stated in USA Today, the study is published in the journal of Neurology. From 1993 to 2011, researchers analyzed information from 10,802 Chicago residents. Every three years, participants were interviewed for signs of dementia, a derivative of Alzheimer’s.

The National Institute of Aging says that Alzheimer’s represents an upcoming health epidemic as the population ages. Despite the millions of dollars spent in research, there are no cures, preventions, or treatments to stop the progression of this disease, reported Reuters.

“This report confirms yet again that Alzheimer’s will be the great health crisis of the 21st century. It also highlights the dire threat posed by the looming sequester and the sweeping cuts to NIH, which would mark a death knell for Alzheimer’s research funding,” said George Vradenburg of USAgainstAlzheimer’s and member of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services.