Books as Bridges
Facts & Stats
Facts:
Dementia means “deprived of mind.” Dementia it is an irreversible serious cognitive impairment
that affects memory, attention, language and problem solving beyond what is expected of normal aging. There
are several conditions that cause dementia.
Think of dementia as the umbrella and Alzheimer’s disease as one of the diseases beneath it.
A diagnosis of dementia is often automatically interpreted by the family to mean Alzheimer’s Disease, but that is
not always the case.
Alzheimer’s disease is one type of dementia and the most common. Some other types of dementia include:
vascular dementia, lewy body dementia, alcohol induced Wernicke encephalopathy, frontotemporal, mixed
dementia, Parkinson’s, Picks, Huntingtons, Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, traumatic brain injury, acute
hydrocephalus, and early onset Alzheimer’s.
Stats:
There are more than 44 million American unpaid caregivers.
More than 5 million people in the U.S. have dementia.
Worldwide, the number of people with dementia is estimated to be 24 million.
By 2040 it is estimated dementia worldwide will affect up to as many as 84 million.
In the United States it is estimated 23 million household are caring for someone with dementia.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the 6th leading cause of death according to the CDC.
Florida ranks 4th in the nation.
Dodger Goes West
Edna and Beth
