Alzheimer's Disease: A Leading Cause of Death in The United States and The Primary Concern for Americans' Healthcare In Retirement
As Baby Boomers age, the demographics of the country will continue to shift towards an aging population with a longer life expectancy than ever before. As COVID becomes less worrisome and "normal" health-related discussions are included in your client engagements, you may want to challenge clients to think about this: Every year, Alzheimer's Disease kills more people than Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer COMBINED!
Why bring this up with? Surprisingly, most of your clients DON'T understand that custodial care for this dreadful disease is EXCLUDED by Medicare or health insurance, and even with the advancements in modern medicine and the ability to treat life-threatening illnesses and diseases, there are limitations to what the medical community can accomplish.
Just consider these headlines over the last couple of years......
Study finds People With Dementia Are Twice as Likely to Get Covid
Death Toll From Covid-19 Pandemic Extends Far Beyond Virus Victims
BACEless: Eisai, Biogen Pull Plug on Alzheimer’s Drug in Final Stage
Concert Stock Falls 36% On Alzheimer's Drug Trial Failure
Biogen Shares Skid After Company Ends Alzheimer’s Trials
Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca Drop Two Late-Stage Alzheimer’s Drug Trials
US Biotech vTv Therapeutics Has Become the Latest to Fail in Alzheimer’s Disease
Not that the scientific community is giving up on finding a cure or treatment, but in the interim, perhaps we may need to temper our expectations. Until that changes, of the top-ten causes of death in the United States, Alzheimer's Disease "is the only one where there are no survivors, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it or stop the progression of the disease,” according to Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, the vice-chair of Neurology and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In a recent Forbes Magazine article, Dr. Tanzi went on to say that “if you look at the top ten diseases of how people die, Alzheimer’s is the only one where there are no survivors, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it or stop the progression of the disease,” Tanzi said. “In all other cases—heart disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, stroke, in all of these cases, there are ways to get survivors, to slow down the disease or even prevent it early on. There are currently 5 million people with symptoms and people who have changes in their brains. They’re on their way to this disease. But because we don’t diagnose until there are symptoms, those numbers are actually closer to 25 million. That’s why we say it’s an urgent situation, a situation of panic.”
Regardless of where Alzheimer's is on the list of leading causes of death in our country, there are now an estimated 5.2 million Americans suffering from the disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Association*, "in 2015, the direct costs of caring for those with Alzheimer's to American society will total an estimated $226 billion," and "unless something is done, in 2050, Alzheimer's will cost over $1.1 trillion."
In a post-pandemic America, we face the unfortunate reality of an aging population that is generally unable or unwilling to acknowledge what may be coming in the future. While medical advancements continue to increase life expectancy, research and treatment for Alzheimer's and other dementia-related illnesses are simply far behind the curve. The enormity of the numbers associated with Alzheimer's projections is just one of the many issues that make Long-Term Care Planning a recommended component of a comprehensive financial plan.
Encourage clients to implement a Long-Term Care Plan to avoid crisis planning when it's too late...
* Source: The Alzheimer's Association: 2023 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures
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