PIERRE, SD – A new report shows the impact Alzheimer’s disease is having and will have on the state’s population.
Leslie Morrow, Executive Director of the South Dakota Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, says the number afflicted are growing.
“We’re looking at an increase of up to 20,000 people living in South Dakota in just three years. This is a long journey for folks.” She continued, “It can last from two years to 20 years. The average is eight years of time when people will need extra help from family and friends and also professional caregivers such as long term care. It’s a very long journey for family, it’s expensive and we know that caregivers take the brunt of this disease as well.”
Morrow says the report has one stunning statistic. “I think one of the things that really sticks out is that we have the highest death rate in America when it comes to the mortality of this disease. Part of that is attributed to a higher than average age of people living in South Dakota.” She added, “Never-the-less, we have seen a 176% increase in Alzheimer deaths since the year 2000.”
Morrow says there will be a sharp increase in the number of people with Alzheimer’s. “This disease continues to have a major impact on South Dakota. There are about 18,000 people in the state living with the disease. That’s roughly the population of Mitchell. And that doesn’t take into account other forms of dementia.”
She predicts there will need to be a large rise in the number of health care workers to care for the increasing numbers of dementia cases.
