Study: Costs Of Treating Dementia Higher Than Treating Cancer, Heart Disease.

In continuing coverage, the CBS Evening News (4/4, story 6, 2:35, Pelley) reported that a study (4/4) published April 4 in “the New England Journal of Medicine says nearly 15% of Americans over the age of 70 have dementia, and the yearly cost caring for them can run $70,000.”

The CBS News (4/5, LaPook) website focuses entirely on the impact Alzheimer’s and dementia care has on families.

CNN Money (4/5, Isidore) reports that the study “puts the cost of treating Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia at $109 billion, making it more expensive to society than either cancer or heart disease.” In addition, the study “estimates that costs will more than double in the next 27 years, reaching $259 billion by 2040. The same study puts the estimated cost of treating heart disease at $102 billion, and cancer treatment at $77 billion.”

Psychiatric News (4/5) reports, “Brent Forester, MD, chair of the APA Council on Geriatric Psychiatry, told Psychiatric News that the RAND study ‘points out the staggering economic toll that Alzheimer’s disease takes on individuals with dementia, their families ,and the national economy. If we do not find effective prevention methods or treatments that meaningfully slow disease progression, the costs of dementia care will cripple our health care system.'” Forester added, “Collaborations between academia, industry, and the federal government are required to accelerate our focus on developing effective therapies for prevention and early intervention for at risk individuals.”

Related Links:

— “The high costs of caring for someone with dementia, “Jonathan LaPook, CBS Evening News, April 4, 2013.

Posted in In The News.