More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's: report

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, and it could steal the minds of one out of eight baby boomers, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Alzheimer's Association.

The report found there were 411,000 new cases of Alzheimer's in 2000, a number expected to grow to 454,000 new cases a year by 2010. By 2050, 959,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease every year, the report predicts.

The report, available on the Internet here, says that 14 percent of all people age 71 and over have dementia.

That includes 16 percent of women and 11 percent of men in that age group.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of cases.

It starts out with mild memory loss and confusion but escalates into complete memory loss and an inability to care for oneself. There is no cure and the handful of drugs that can treat Alzheimer's only slow its progression for a short time.

The second most common cause of dementia is vascular dementia, often caused by strokes.

The causes of Alzheimer's disease are not yet clear. The brains of patients are clogged with protein plaques and tangles of nerve fibers. Corporate and academic scientists are working on tests for disease risk, better drugs to treat the symptoms and vaccines that might prevent the brain damage.