ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Pharmaco-economics of Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

Pharmaco-economics of Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

Introduction

Alzheimer's disease is the most widespread kind of dementia. Dementia is a condition which may be rooted from several progressive diseases that distress thinking, memory, the capability to carry out daily actions and behavior. The risk of acquiring Alzheimer's disease rises with age, although the disease sometimes occurs in middle age. The youngest documented case of a person with Alzheimer's disease involved someone who was 28 years old. The early-onset forms of the disease tend to run in families, whereas cases that develop after age 65 (which constitute the vast majority) seem to occur sporadically. (Zhu, 2008)

Although the cause of Alzheimer's disease remains un-known, researchers now believe that some forms of the disease—particularly those that strike people before age 65—may be linked to the inheritance of at least 3 specific genes. One of these is on chromosome 21, the same chromosome involved in Down syndrome. There seems to be a genetic predisposition for late-onset forms of Alzheimer's disease as well, although more and more researchers now suspect that, as with heart disease and cancer, most forms of the disease result from the interactions of several influences, both genetic and environmental.

In the world, the total estimated global costs of Alzheimer's are US$604 billion in 2010. It has been calculated that in 2010, there are approximately 35.6 million people living with dementia, rising to 115.4 million by 2050 and65.7 million by 2030. Almost 2/3rd live in countries with middle and low income, where the quickest boosts in statistics are expected to happen. (www.alz.org)

Research Question

Alzheimer's disease is a brutal emergency and it is getting more serious with each year. At present, 5.4 million persons have Alzheimer's disease and supporting dementias and Alzheimer's disease patients is expected to cost around $200 billion to US economy.

Background

In USA, the disease costs $24.6 billion to companies in health care. Moreover, the disease is the 7th foremost reason of death, and it has an effect on 5.3 million persons. Because of the need of treatment, the people who are detectd with Alzheimer's require lasting care regularly, and the care of the disease is a major cost for the country, patients, and the government. (www.alz.org)

Alzheimer's Disease was the 8th leading cause of death in 1999. More than 44,500 people died of AD that year. The disease properly belongs on the graphic of the previous panel, but this disease has a curious pattern and history and is thus best treated as a separate topic. (Allegri, 2007)

In a sense Alzheimer's also belongs among the "new" diseases. Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, initially described it in 1906. It has come to be known as the leading cause of dementia — a term that generally describes symptoms of a decline in a person's ability to think, remember, make judgments, produce speech, and generally to function normally. Although the graphic shows a steep rise in the AD death rate for the most affected age groups (some- what understated by the use of ...