The Alzheimer’s Association today released a report entitled 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures which includes information on the prevalence and cost of this devastating brain disease. The report notes that Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and points out that deaths from the disease are expected to rise precipitously in the next 15 years as the Baby Boom generation reaches their 70s. Deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s disease increased 47.1 percent from 2000 to 2006, while deaths attributed to heart disease, the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S., declined by 11.5 percent in that time.

The report also includes data on Alzheimer’s disease deaths in each state. Below is a list of top 10 states for deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s disease, with the age-adjusted rates per 100,000 state residents shown in parentheses. Age-adjusted rates account for the effect of age disparities in the populations being examined, which allows for reliable comparisons among states. For example, Florida has a large number of elderly residents, and, without any rate adjustments, would have a much higher Alzheimer’s death rate than a state with a younger average population; age-adjusted rates remove this effect.

The top 10 states with the highest rates of Alzheimer’s disease deaths are:

1. Tennessee (age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 = 36.2)
2. Washington (35.9)
3. Louisiana (34.2)
4. Alabama (33.2)
5. South Carolina (32.4)
6. Arizona (31.3)
7. N Dakota (29.8)
8. N Carolina (29.5)
9. Idaho (29.4)
10. Maine (29.1)

If you would like to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, read the Healia Health Guide to Alzheimer’s Disease. To share your experiences with Alzheimer’s or as a caregiver of an Alzheimer’s patient, join the Healia Support Group for Alzheimer’s Disease.

_{Source: Alzheimer’s Association, 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, 3/09. http://www.alz.org/national/documents/report_alzfactsfigures2009.pdf}

_{Photo: *Ann Gordon, Flickr, Creative Commons}