You're Not Imagining It: More People Have Alzheimer's
By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor
When you're expecting a baby, you suddenly notice pregnant women everywhere. If you're caring for a relative with Alzheimer's disease, it can seem like another case of being suddenly more attuned to the condition. Except it's not just perception. The number of people with the disease is growing -- now up to 5.2 million Americans. And so are Alzheimer's deaths.
Here are the leading causes of death as of 2006, the latest count, just released from the National Center for Health Statistics:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases
- Accidents
- ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Number 6 used to be diabetes. But deaths from diabetes, stroke, pneumonia, influenza -- even cancer and suicide -- all showed declines from 2005 to 2006.
In another NHS headline: Life expectancy is up to a record 78.1 years (81 years if you're a white woman). Good news -- except seen in the light that advancing age is the leading risk factor for Alzheimer's. (All roads lead to Alzheimer's lately, it would seem.)
Of course as a reader recently mentioned, you don't technically die of Alzheimer's, normally, but of a condition stemming from the disease's effects (not eating, vulnerability to infection because of depression, wandering off and drowning, and so on.). Given this, and the number of cases that are undiagnosed, do you think the true number of Alzheimer's deaths is even larger?
What's certain for the near future is that it will be.
Image by Flickr user Mykl Roventine , used under the Creative Commons attribution license.
Stroke alert..This is a very important message from the medical community reguarding the signs of a stroke. Please read these earky warning signs,as they may save someones life. 4th Stroke sign NEW - IMPORTANT Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, theTongue. I will continue to forward this every time it comes around! STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters.... S.T.R. Please read: STROKE IDENTIFICATION: A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: S * Ask the individual to SMILE. T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today) R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.