And those over 60 twice as likely to get the brain disease than breast cancer
A 65-year-old American woman has a 1 in 6 chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life, while a man the same age has about a 1 in 11 chance.
That’s one of the key findings of a new report that highlights the heavy toll that Alzheimer’s takes on women as both patients and caregivers.
Women in their 60s are also twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s than breast cancer, according to the report — “2014 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures” — from the Alzheimer’s Association.
The report also found that there are 2.5 times more women than men providing 24-hour care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Women caregivers are also more likely than men to switch from full-time to part-time work (20 percent versus 3 percent), more likely to take a leave of absence (18 percent versus 11 percent), and to stop working (11 percent versus 5 percent) to meet the needs of a loved one with the disease.
“Women are the epicenter of Alzheimer’s disease, representing [the] majority of both people with the disease and Alzheimer’s caregivers,” Angela Geiger, chief strategy officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, said in a prepared statement from the group.
Of the more than 5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s, 3.2 million are women, according to the report.
The total health care cost of Alzheimer’s and other dementias is expected to hit $214 billion this year in the United States. The charge to Medicare and Medicaid will be $150 billion, and Medicare will spend nearly $1 in every $5 on patients with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, the report said.
