Alzheimer's in U.S. claims $202 bln in unpaid care - latimes.com

 Alzheimer's in U.S. claims $202 bln in unpaid care

Nearly 15 million Americans care for a dementia patient

* Disease takes devastating toll on families, friends

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO, March 15 (Reuters Life!) - Nearly 15 million

people in the United States take care of a loved one with

Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia, amounting to

17 billion hours or more than $202 billion in unpaid care,

Alzheimer's experts said Tuesday.

If these caregivers all lived in one U.S. state, it would

be the nation's fifth largest, according to the Alzheimer's

Association's 2011 annual report on the disease.

The report illustrates the growing burden of Alzheimer's

disease, a fatal brain-wasting disease that erodes memory,

thinking, behavior and the ability to handle daily activities.

Alzheimer's affects more than 26 million people globally

and can stretch on for years, slowly robbing patients of their

mind and memories. And there are currently no drugs that can

keep the disease from progressing.

"Alzheimer's disease doesn't just affect those with it. It

invades families and the lives of everyone around them," Harry

Johns, president and chief executive of the Alzheimer's

Association, said in a statement.

The new report shows a 37 percent increase in Alzheimer's

and dementia caregivers compared with a year ago, but much of

that increase is because the year-ago figure had been based on

nine-year-old estimates, Beth Kallmyer of the Alzheimer's

Association said in a telephone interview.

Even so, the number of unpaid caregivers is staggering,

Bill Thies, the association's chief medical and scientific

officer said in a telephone interview.

'ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE'

"We are in the early stages of an epidemic and it is only

going to get worse over the next four years, and these costs

are going to continue to grow," Thies said.

The group estimates that 5.4 million people in the United

States are now living with Alzheimer's disease, up from 5.3

million a year ago. That includes 5.2 million people over age

65 or about one in eight senior citizens.

A 65-year-old person diagnosed with Alzheimer's typically

lives four to eight years after being diagnosed, but some

patients live as long as 20 years after diagnosis.

That takes an emotional toll, Kallmyer said.

"It's hard to take care of somebody that you love who

doesn't remember who you are."

Kallmyer said more than 60 percent of caregivers say they

are stressed, and more than a third say they are depressed.

Treating the disease is expensive.

The $202 billion in unpaid care is on top of the $183

billion estimate for Alzheimer's care expected to be delivered

in 2011 by healthcare workers in homes, hospitals and long-term

care facilities, an increase of $11 billion over a year ago.

Medicare and Medicaid, the federal insurance programs for

the elderly and poor, cover about 70 percent of these costs.

Thies said Alzheimer's patients on Medicare cost three

times more than other patients, largely because they spend more

time in hospitals and nursing homes. And Alzheimer's patients

on Medicaid, which pays for the bulk of long-term care, cost

nine times more than other Medicaid patients.

"The federal government is really paying for Alzheimer's

research one way or another because the bulk of these people

will be on Medicare or Medicaid," Thies said.

By 2050, Medicare costs for people with Alzheimer's

and other dementias will increase nearly 600 percent and

Medicaid costs will soar almost 400 percent.

The full report appears in the March 2011 issue of

Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's

Association.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

Copyright © 2011, Reuters