Baby boomers often awaken to new limitations that accompany growing older.
A report this year from the Alzheimer’s Association warns that for many of us the days ahead will become more problematic. Already an estimated 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. That’s up from a 2000 estimate of 4.5 million.

There is no known cause or cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The symptoms include confusion, disorganized thinking, impaired judgment, trouble expressing oneself and disorientation. People with the disease need assistance with many everyday functions, including using the bathroom, bathing, eating and dressing.
About 4.9 million people with Alzheimer’s are 65 and older, making the disease a growing concern for aging baby boomers. About 78 million Americans are boomers, born between 1946 and 1964.

We began turning age 60 last year at a rate of 330 every hour. By 2011, baby boomers will begin turning 65. Fueled by aging boomers, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to be 7.7 million in 2030.

By 2050, 11 million to 16 million people will have it, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Already, every 72 seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease. “By midcentury, someone will develop Alzheimer’s every 33 seconds,” the report warns.

In 1991, there were 14,112 death certificates that listed Alzheimer’s disease as the underlying cause. From 2000 to 2004, Alzheimer’s deaths rose by 32.8 percent. It was the fifth leading cause of death for people age 65 and older behind heart disease and other killers.

“From 2000 to 2004,” the report said, “deaths from Alzheimer’s disease increased by 32.8 percent, while the number one cause of death, heart disease, decreased by 8 percent.”

Another concern is the cost burden of Alzheimer’s. The association reported that Medicare spends nearly three times as much on average for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias as it does for people without dementia. That’s $13,207 compared with $4,454.

People with Alzheimer’s and other dementias had 3.4 times more hospital stays than other Medicare patients. On average, the cost for hospital care was 3.2 times higher than for other beneficiaries of Medicare — $7,704 versus $2,204.

The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer’s and other dementias borne by caregivers, Medicare, employers and Medicaid is $148 billion annually. In 2005, Medicare spent $91 billion on Alzheimer’s patients and other dementias. That is expected to increase to $160 billion by 2010 and $189 billion by 2015.

“Out-of-pocket expenditures for health and long-term care are higher, on average, for older people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias than for other older people,” the report said. A Health and Retirement Study found that in 1995, average out-of-pocket expenditures for hospital stays, nursing home care, outpatient treatment, home care and prescription medications were $1,350 for people with no dementia compared with $2,150 for people with mild or moderate dementia.

For people with severe dementia, the average out-of-pocket cost jumped to $3,010 in 1995, an increase of $1,660 over the average for people with no dementia. In comparison, the increase in out-of-pocket costs for heart disease was $670; stroke, $820; diabetes, $760; hypertension, $630; cancer, $670; lung disease, $460; psychiatric problems, $630; and arthritis, $270, the report said.

Unless a cure is found, my baby boom contemporaries and I will be future generations’ most costly nightmare.