Mortality from Alzheimer's disease in the United States: data for 2000 and 2010.

In 2010, Alzheimer's disease was the underlying cause for a total of 83,494 deaths and was classified as a contributing cause for an additional 26,488 deaths (1). Mortality from Alzheimer's disease has steadily increased during the last 30 years. Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the fifth leading cause for people aged 65 years and over (1). An estimated 5.4 million persons in the United States have Alzheimer's disease (2). The cost of health care for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia was estimated to be 200 billion dollars in 2012, including 140 billion dollars in costs to Medicare and Medicaid and is expected to reach 1.1 trillion dollars in 2050 (2). Alzheimer's disease mortality varies by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and geographic area. This report presents mortality data on Alzheimer's disease based on data from the National Vital Statistics System from 2000 through 2010, the most recent year for which detailed data are available.