Alzheimer’s statistics
• 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Of those, over 50,000 are in Kansas.
• One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer’s disease.
• Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
• More than 15 million Americans provide unpaid care valued at $210 billion for persons with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
• Payments for care are estimated to be $200 billion in the United States in 2012.
• It is projected that as many as 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s by 2050.
Information courtesy of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Teams or individuals are still being sought for the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s planned for Saturday, Sept. 22, in the Barton County Courthouse Square.
“This is an event to unite people in a movement to reclaim the future for millions,” said Stacy Hedley, Great Bend Walk chairperson. “Each walker will join in a meaningful tribute ceremony to honor those affected by Alzheimer’s disease.”
Registration will begin at 1:30 p.m. followed by the opening ceremony at the square. The one-mile walk will begin at approximately 2 p.m. Hedley encourages anyone to come out and show their support, and sign up that day to walk or donate.
Hedley said there is no set size for a team and participants are not required to be on a team to walk. There is no registration fee and walkers can donate whatever amount they wish.
T-Shirts are available as well. But, these require a $100 donation or for the walker to have raised $100.
Registrations can be taken by calling Hedley at 620-792-7000. One may also sign-up online by going to alz.org/walk and listing their town and sign up as a team or as an individual.
Those who would like to support the cause but are unable to walk can call Jan Evans, outreach coordinator at 316-267-7333.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s website, September is World Alzheimer’s Month. Worldwide, 35 million people and their families are affected by dementia.
The national walk campaign is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for care, support and research, and walks are held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide. The goal this year is to have 40,000 teams take part across the county and so far, there are 29,459 teams registered.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities. It accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.
