Over Half A Million Floridians and Nearly 190,000 Florida Gulf Coast Area Residents Are Living with Alzheimer’s.

New Alzheimer’s Association Report Reveals Sharp Increases in Alzheimer’s Prevalence. Florida has the second highest prevalence of the disease in the country, with a projected increase of 33.3% in the next 7 years.

Fact: Every 65 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s disease. There are approximately 540,000 Floridians living with the disease.

Fact: Alzheimer’s disease is not just an older person’s disease. The truth is one in nine people age 65 and older will be diagnosed; and one in three seniors will die with Alzheimer’s disease. Although age is the biggest risk factor, Alzheimer’s disease can affect anyone with a brain.

Fact: Alzheimer’s disease is not just memory loss. The truth is Alzheimer’s is a fatal disease — there are no survivors. While deaths for other major illnesses and medical conditions, such as heart disease, have significantly decreased, Alzheimer’s deaths have more than doubled in the last 15 years. Florida saw 7,031 mortalities in 2015 alone.

Fact: Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the nation and in the state of Florida. It is the only cause of death among the top 10 in America that cannot be prevented, slowed, or cured.

For more information contact the Alzheimer’s Association at 1–800–272–3900, or visit alz.org/flgulfcoast/. Full text of the Facts and Figures report, including the accompanying Special Report can be viewed at alz.org/facts.