Living Well with Dementia and Alzheimer's

What is Dementia and Alzheimer's?

Dementia is an umbrella term for a number of distinct neurological diseases caused by plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, strokes, or other problems in the brain. Alzheimer's disease is one form of dementia and one of the most common, accounting for more than approximately 70% of cases. There are more than 50 identified forms of dementia besides Alzheimer's disease, including: (1) frontotemporal dementia; (2) Lewy bodies disease; (3) Parkinson's disease; (4) Pick's disease; (5) vascular dementia. Some forms of dementia may be reversible, but for the majority, including Alzheimer's disease, there remains no cure.

Symptoms include short and long-term memory loss, difficulties with problem solving, and performing step-wise tasks, and impaired communicative abilities. The cognitive decline from dementia is significantly different from what is expected from normal aging and interferes with the completion of activities of daily living.

Early detection and prevention are keys to helping people with Alzheimer’s and dementia live independently for as long as possible. Reducing stigma around dementia and Alzheimer’s will help foster a more respectful, inclusive and supportive Nevada. (Source: Nevada State Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease, 2015).

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45,000 Nevadans with Alzheimer’s	169 Million Hours of Unpaid Care	50 Percent May be Undiagnosed
Currently, there are around 45,000 Nevadans living with Alzheimer’s Disease. As lifespans increase, so will the number of new cases of Alzheimer’s yearly.	In 2017, Nevada’s caregivers provided over 169 million hours of unpaid care to people with Alzheimer’s, totaling more than $2 billion. That’s $243,835 per hour or $67.73 per second!	Currently, as many as half of people with Alzheimer’s disease are not diagnosed. Doctors are often reluctant to give the diagnosis or fear the reaction.