Americans With Alzheimer's Now Number 5.7 Million

The estimated number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has risen to 5.7 million, from 5.5 million in 2017, according to a report released today by the Alzheimer’s Association.

That's an increase of roughly 3.6% and largely reflects the aging of the boomer generation.

By 2025, the 2018 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report projects, 7.1 million Americans aged 65 and older will have Alzheimer’s, and by 2050, some 13.8 million.

Accurate counting of Alzheimer’s cases is difficult, said Ron Brookmeyer, professor of biostatistics at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, who was not involved with the new report. There is no national surveillance of the disease and the line between what is called “mild cognitive impairment” (sometimes the first stage of Alzheimer’s) and dementia is fuzzy.

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Written by Beth Baker for Forbes.com