Eleven newly identified genes are associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, reports the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The government agency said in a statement on Monday that these genetic fingerprints could help researchers find new ways to attack the mind-destroying disease, which affects more than 5 million in the US.
What triggers the disease still eludes researchers, but concern about the condition’s impact continues to soar. The Alzheimer’s Association projects that 7.1 million people 65 and older will have Alzheimer’s in 10 years. This is a 40% increase from the 5.1 million who now have the disease, and the total is expected to jump to between 14 million and 16 million by 2050. On the financial side, the association noted that caregivers, who provide aid such as getting into and out of bed, feeding, dressing, bathing and managing incontinence, provided $216.4 billion in unpaid care in 2012.
