Facts and Figures, an annual report released by the Alzheimer’s Association, reveals the burden of Alzheimer's and dementia on individuals, caregivers, government and the nation's healthcare system. 2012 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report Quick facts Cost to nation Expanding Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Alzheimer's facts in each state How to cite Facts and Figures

Quick facts

• 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease.
• One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer's disease.
• Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
• More than 15 million Americans provide unpaid care valued at $210 billion for persons with Alzheimer's and other dementias. 
• Payments for care are estimated to be $200 billion in the United States in 2012.

 Alzheimer's Facts and Figures Fact Sheet

Cost to nation

In 2012, the direct costs of caring for those with Alzheimer’s or other dementias to American society will total an estimated $200 billion, including $140 billion in costs to Medicare and Medicaid.

Average per person Medicare payments for an older person with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are nearly 3 times higher than for an older person without these conditions. Medicaid payments are 19 times higher. These costs will only continue to soar in the coming years given the projected rapidly escalating prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease as the baby boomers age.

Unless something is done, the care costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias will soar from $200 billion this year to a projected $1.1 trillion (in today’s dollars) by 2050. This dramatic rise includes a 500 percent increase in combined Medicare and Medicaid spending.

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Expanding Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the country and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. Based on final mortality data from 2000-2008, death rates have declined for most major diseases—heart disease (-13 percent), breast cancer (-3 percent), prostate cancer (-8 percent), stroke (-20 percent) and HIV/AIDS (-29)—while deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have risen 66 percent during the same period.

People with Alzheimer's living alone

An estimated 800,000 individuals with Alzheimer’s (or one in seven) live alone. People with Alzheimer’s and other dementias who live alone are exposed to higher risks—including inadequate self-care, malnutrition, untreated medical conditions, falls, wandering from home unattended and accidental deaths—compared to those who do not live alone. Of those who have Alzheimer’s and live alone, up to half of them do not have an identifiable caregiver.

Alzheimer's facts in each state

The 2012 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report also contains data on the impact of this disease in every state across the nation. Click below to see the effect that Alzheimer's is having in your state.

How to cite Facts and Figures

The Alzheimer's Association publishes Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures as an open-access article in its scientific journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. To reference data from the 2012 report, please cite our journal:

Alzheimer's Association. 2012 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures. Alzheimer's and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. March 2012; 8:131–168.