skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Alzheimer's Population to Double by 2060; Is MT Ready?

play audio
Play

Monday, December 11, 2017   

HELENA, Mont. – The number of people with Alzheimer's symptoms will more than double in the coming decades. Is Montana ready for this dramatic increase?

According to a new study from UCLA, about 15 million Americans will have Alzheimer's dementia or cognitive impairment by 2060. Today, about 6 million Americans suffer from these symptoms.

Lynn Mullowney Cabrera, executive director of the Montana chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, says Montana's population is expected to age rapidly in the coming decades.

Unfortunately for those suffering symptoms of dementia, she says Big Sky Country is one of many states dubbed a "neurological desert."

"We have great expanses of state where we have insufficient numbers of geriatricians and other specialty providers, where we – like many other states – have primary care providers, just those folks that are on the front lines, that maybe don't have the latest in diagnostic criteria," she states.

According to the UCLA study, 47 million Americans already show evidence of susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease.

Cabrera says Montana is on the right track. In 2016, the Alzheimer's and Dementia State Plan was released. The plan is comprehensive and explores how the state can prepare itself.

Now, Cabrera says, the state will have to execute.

"As I've said in the past, there's no money, there's no teeth in it,” she stresses. “But it gave us a road map."

In part, the plan looks at ways to make the state accessible for people with dementia.

Cabrera compares the effort to making cities accessible for people with disabilities over the past few decades. She says family caregivers are the backbone of support, but that it's also important to find and retain nurses and nursing home workers to care for people.

"How do we enlist these individuals and entrust them and empower them to have positive experiences that then build on each other instead of negative experiences where they leave the field and we have far less than we need for capable providers?" she questions.

With this comes a hefty price tag. In 2017, caring for people with Alzheimer's cost nearly $260 billion, making it the most expensive disease in the country.

But Cabrera says the country can actually save money if it provides better community resources and prevents unnecessary hospitalizations.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021