April 1 (UPI) —<\/span> Rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia among Medicare beneficiaries increased by more than 30% over the past two decades or so, an analysis published Friday by JAMA Health Forum found.<\/p>\n In 2017, 47% of Medicare beneficiaries who died had received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia within two years of their deaths, up from 35% in 2004, the data showed.\n<\/p>\n<\/article>\n Diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias among Medicare beneficiaries increased by more than 33% between 2011 and 2013 alone, the researchers said.<\/p>\n During this period, Congress passed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act, which required the federal Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan address dementia, they said.\n<\/p>\n “Nearly half of all older adults now die with a diagnosis of dementia listed on their medical record,” study co-author Dr. Julie Bynum told UPI in an email.<\/p>\n However, “the sharp rise may have more to do with better public awareness, more detailed medical records and Medicare billing practices,” said Bynum, a professor of geriatric and palliative medicine at the University of Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n About 6 million people in the United States have some form of dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.\n<\/p>\n In addition, many more experience mild cognitive impairment, a precursor for dementia many confuse with normal aging, research suggests.<\/p>\n In its 2022 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, the Alzheimer’s Association estimated that the United States saw a 17% increase in deaths from Alzheimer’s and other dementias in 2020.<\/p>\n The findings of this study are based on an analysis of data for more than 3.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who died between 2004 and 2017, the researchers said.\n<\/p>\n “When older adults bring concerns about memory and thinking to their healthcare providers sooner and obtain a diagnosis, they have more of an opportunity to engage in advance care planning with their family,” Bynum said.<\/p>\n “With a diagnosis, people can engage in discussions about preferences for future end-of-life care for this prolonged disease that often leaves people unable not be able to speak for themselves,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States die with a diagnosis of dementia on their medical records, according to a new study. Photo by Gundula Vogel\/Pixabay April 1 (UPI) — Rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia among Medicare beneficiaries increased by more than 30% over the past two decades or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1042028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[6986,5520,1106,1009,176,2715,5206,6987,28],"class_list":["post-1042027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-2000s","tag-dementia","tag-die","tag-early","tag-finds","tag-number","tag-rises","tag-seniors","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1042027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1042027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1042027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1042027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/div>\nNearly half of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States die with a diagnosis of dementia on their medical records, according to a new study. Photo by Gundula Vogel\/Pixabay<\/div>\n\n