Rising tide of Alzheimer diagnoses will burden health system

That prediction concerns Tidal View Manor’s administrator Sandra Boudreau. “It was a disturbing report, is what it was,” she said. “If these predictions are true, Nova Scotia is going to have trouble taking care of that population. Nursing homes are certainly not staffed to accept the numbers that are increasing. The government will have to take another look at staffing models.”

The report says Canada will need a national strategy to prepare for a tidal wave of dementia cases in the coming decades that could swamp the health-care system and put a severe drain on the economy. Projections suggest direct and indirect costs of the disease will multiply tenfold as follows: “In 2010, someone in Canada develops dementia every five minutes; in 30 years, there will be one new case every two minutes. If nothing changes, this sharp increase in the number of people living with dementia will mean that by 2038, the total costs associated with dementia will reach $153 billion a year."

The report, prepared over two years at a cost of $150,000, also projects that annual new cases of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia will more than double to 257,800 in 2038 from the current 103,700 a year.

One of the bigger problems with caring for Alzheimer patients is the tendency for some to wander, and/or become aggressive.

Boudreau has seen examples of both in the past. And there’s another concern – their strength. “We’re getting younger people whose minds have left them but their bodies are strong,” she said.

Increased funding is critical for research into the causes of dementia and more effective treatments. The Alzheimer society wants to see annual funding tripled to $72 million from the current $24 million.

The report also predicts that the overall amount of unpaid care delivered by family members will more than triple by 2038, to 756 million hours from the current 231 million hours.

The Alzheimer Society of Canada has brain boosting exercises on its website (www.alzheimer.ca) that help keep your brain active. Being socially and physically active also reduces the risk of Alzheimers.