The number of people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease is expected to triple in the next 37 years, according to a new U.S. study.
The study, published online in the Neurology Journal, predicts that 13.8 million people in the U.S. will have Alzheimer鈥檚 by 2050. Seven million of them will be 85 or older.
Based on those predictions, Canada could see 2.8 million dementia cases by 2050, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
There are currently about 747,000 dementia patients across the country. That number is expected to double to 1.4 million by 2031.
The co-author of the U.S. study, assistant professor of medicine at Chicago鈥檚 Rush University Medical Center Jennifer Weuve, said the growing tide of dementia patients highlights 鈥渁n urgent need for more research, treatments and preventive strategies to reduce this epidemic.鈥�
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It will 鈥減lace a huge burden on society, disabling more people who develop the disease, challenging their caregivers, and straining medical and social safety nets," she said.
Alzheimer Society of Canada CEO Mimi Lowi-Young said the numbers presented in the study are 鈥渟taggering.鈥�
鈥淚 think really it is a call to action for all of us. The impact will be huge.鈥�
Lowi-Young said Canadian hospitals, long-term care homes and caregivers are not prepared for what鈥檚 coming. Dementia patients will 鈥渟wamp the health-care system,鈥� unless a national strategy is implemented, she said.
鈥淎ction needs to happen now, otherwise we are going to be in really serious trouble.鈥�
The cost of dementia in Canada is pegged at $33 billion a year. By 2040, it will balloon to $239 billion, according to the Alzheimer Society.
The majority of people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease are over the age of 65, however, statistics show that younger people are increasingly being affected by dementia. About one in 6 are now under the age of 65, according to the Alzheimer Society.
Women represent almost three-quarters of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease patients in Canada.
For caregivers like Julie Foley, whose husband suffers from dementia, the lack of institutional support is an ongoing struggle.
鈥淭here is not enough services for either the people who are living with one kind of dementia or another, nor for their caregivers,鈥� Foley said.
鈥淭here are none of us who will escape (dementia),鈥� she said. 鈥淚f it is not your parent, it will be your partner or sibling.鈥�
Mimi Fullerton, whose husband Myer Brody was diagnosed with vascular dementia a year ago, said caregivers also need to be taken care of.
鈥淭here are so few places where members of the family can come and get looked after鈥his is very, very difficult,鈥� she said.
Her husband is part of an adult day program run by Senior People鈥檚 Resources in North Toronto, or SPRINT, which offers respite for families. The classes offer stimulation and exercise for patients who are cared for at home.
The demand for these day programs will only grow, say dementia experts.
That鈥檚 why NDP MP Claude Gravelle, who represents Ontario鈥檚 Nickel Belt riding, in 2011 calling for a to fund research and boost programs that help the families of those living with the disease.
Gravelle鈥檚 own mother, Leona, suffered from Alzheimer鈥檚 before she died in 2003.
鈥淐anada is the only country in the G8 that does not have an Alzheimer strategy and the problem is not going to go away,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 few years ago, we used to say that everybody knows somebody with cancer. Now everybody knows somebody with Alzheimer鈥檚.
鈥淲e should all be scared.鈥�
With a report from CTV鈥檚 medical specialist Avis Favaro and producer Elizabeth St. Philip
