A poster with information about Alzheimer’s Disease is posted on a shelf that holds books in the library at the Alzheimer’s Association Headquarters in Chicago.Alzheimer’s disease has long been said to be the sixth leading cause of death in America, but a new study indicates it may be much more common.
The study, published earlier this month in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that Alzheimer’s disease may fall just behind the No. 1 heart disease and No. 2 cancer as a cause of death.
Whether dementia is No. 6, No. 2 or No. 10, it’s too common. And most of us have far too little understanding of it and its consequences — even if we, or someone we love, never get it.
Alzheimer’s disease kills one in three seniors in America. But this disease that eats away at memory and thinking ability is expected to triple in prevalence by 2050 simply by virtue of the number of aging baby boomers.
As for the study, the cause-of-death numbers are based on what is reported on death certificates, and Alzheimer’s — along with other dementias — is under-reported on those certificates and medical records.