Mental Health

Dementia Cases Expected to Triple by 2050

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Sep 20, 2013 03:37 PM EDT

Despite more research identifying new markers of dementia, a new report estimates that the number of cases of elderly seniors with dementia could triple by 2050. This new report, provided by Alzheimer's Disease International, a charity group, stated that the increase in the number of dementia cases will severely affect the resources of caregivers who must take care of medical costs.

"Long-term care for older ­people is mainly about care for people with dementia," the study's authors wrote according to NPR. "Dementia and cognitive impairment are by far the most important contributors among chronic diseases to disability dependence and in high income countries transition into residential and nursing home care."

According to the report, there are around 100 million seniors who suffer from some form of dementia throughout the world. Around 80 percent of the seniors in elderly homes have some kind of dementia. Since the world is expecting an increase in the number of people who will become seniors by 2050, the number of cases will increase as well. The report estimated that by 2050, the number of cases could reach 227 million. The researchers stressed that more programs will need to be created in order to handle this spike in dementia cases.

"Compared with other long-term care users they need more personal care, more hours of care, and more supervision, all of which is associated with greater strain on caregivers, and higher costs," a professor at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and the author of the report, Martin Prince said according to Reuters. "Their needs for care start early in the disease course, and evolve constantly over time, requiring advanced planning, monitoring, and coordination."

The World Alzheimer's Report 2013 can be found here.

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