Alzheimer’s Soaring in Idaho

Alzheimer's can be devastating and it's soaring here in Idaho at a much higher rate than most of the other states in the country. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia which causes memory loss and interferes with other cognitive abilities that affect daily life. 

According to alz.org symptoms usually, develop slowly and get worse over time until they affect a person's day to day life. The disease is progressive and is not a part of normal aging. The average life expectancy for a person with Alzheimer's is 4-8 years, but some live with the disease for more than twenty years.

A new study by msn.com shows that Idaho is in the top 15 states in the country to see an increase in Alzheimer's. Specifically, we land at #13. Alzheimer's is expected to increase by 26.9% between now and the year 2025. There were 672 deaths related to Alzheimer's in 2017.

Not sure what we can do about these statistics, but researchers are continuing to try to solve the mystery and hopefully increased understanding will lead to new treatments.

No word on why Alzheimer's is soaring in Idaho compared to a lot of other states. One could suspect that part of it has to do with population growth, but I'm not sure.

Alzheimer's is just another horrible disease that can steal life and our loved ones from us and hopefully in the near future will be able to do more about it.