By Stephen Soreff
Source Medscape
A case of dementia is diagnosed about every 3 seconds worldwide, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) causes 50%-60% of these cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers AD to be a public-priority disease, given the 55 million people or more who are affected. In the United States alone, about 6.08 million Americans had either clinical AD or mild cognitive impairment due to AD in 2017 — a number expected to grow to 15 million by 2060. Total estimated payments in the United States during 2017 for healthcare and long-term care for all people with AD or other dementias were about $259 billion, and these numbers could rise as high as $1.1 trillion by 2050. Unfortunately, cures for AD remain elusive, and treatment strategies typically focus on early detection and mitigation of symptoms.