News and Articles

Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills. An estimated 5.8 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease (AD). By mid-century, the number of people living with Alzheimer's dementia is projected to grow to almost 14 million in the United States, fueled in large part by aging baby boomers. AD is already the sixth leading cause of death in the US.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder affects more than 5.7 million adults in the United States each year—that’s about 3 percent of the population. The typical age of onset is the late teens or early twenties, and a history of depression is common in people diagnosed with bipolar. 

The early onset means that a lot of research is focused on young people. In about 10 percent of patients with bipolar disorder, however, the illness develops after the age of 50, and 5 percent of admissions to geropsychiatric inpatient units are for bipolar disorder.

“The current growth of the population ages 65 and older is one of the most significant demographic trends in the history of the United States,” according to the Population Reference Bureau. “The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060, and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population will rise to nearly 24 percent from 15 percent.”

One in four older Americans experiences some mental disorder including depression, anxiety disorders, and dementia, according to the National Council on Aging. NCOA does not expect the situation to improve any time soon. “This number is expected to double to 15 million by 2030.”