The new report released by the Alzheimer’s Association has articulated that there are chances and possibility of developing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in 14 million or nearly 18 percent of the United States’ 79 million baby boomers in their lifetime.

The report, “2008 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures,” released on Tuesday has revealed that an estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, and one in eight baby boomers will likely have the Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease characterized by severe memory loss and confusion.

The report has projected that 10 million baby boomers will suffer from the disease. The Early Show medical contributor, the report author, Dr. Emily Senay pointed out Tuesday that one person out of every eight born from 1946 to 1964.

According to the report available on internet, there were 411,000 new cases of Alzheimer's in 2000, a number expected to grow to 454,000 new cases a year by 2010. 14 percent of all people age 71 and over have dementia, which includes 16 percent of women and 11 percent of men in that age group. And, by 2050, 959,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease every year.

One aspect of the report has articulated that, if living to age 55, women are nearly twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's as men.
According to Stephen McConnell, vice president of public policy for the Alzheimer’s Association, age is the largest major factor linked with the disease. After turning 65, chances of developing Alzheimer’s doubles every 5 years.

Gary Small. Director of the UCLA Center on Aging said, “What we’re faced with here is the boomer population coming of age. There are going to be a lot more people at risk.”

So far, there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s. The U.S. will be faced with a half-million new cases of Alzheimer’s in 2010 and nearly a million a year by the middle of the century if no cure for the disease is discovered.

The report has also revealed the negative impact the growing numbers of the disease suffers will have on U.S. economy. The report says, “In 2005, Medicare spent $91 billion on Alzheimer's and other dementias, and spending could jump to $160 billion by 2010 and $189 billion by 2015. Also, the time and out-of-pocket costs for family caregivers will increase.”

McConnell said, Nearly 5.2 million people now have Alzheimer’s and as many as 500,000 Americans are diagnosed before the age of 65. He reckoned, even a treatment that delayed the age of onset for Alzheimer’s could save Medicare billions. McConnell said, “We don't need to cure this disease. If we could just make a dent in it, the savings would be huge.”

Alzheimer's is the most common forms of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of cases. It begins with mild memory loss and confusion but escalates into complete memory loss and an inability to care for oneself. There is no cure and the handful of drugs that can treat Alzheimer's only slow its progression for a short time.