Dementia Costs Exceed Heart Disease, Cancer

Caring for Americans with dementia costs more than heart or cancer care, a new study finds. Direct costs were estimated at $109 billion a year. This includes medical care and nursing homes. The total exceeds the estimated $102 billion a year for heart disease and $77 billion for cancer. Informal care by family and friends boosts dementia costs even more. In all, costs add up to $157 billion to $215 billion a year. The study calculated these two figures using different ways to estimate the costs of informal care. Researchers based their study on 10,903 people in a long-running government study of aging. Of that group, 856 were given detailed exams to determine if they had dementia. Researchers then estimated that 15% of the total group over age 70 had dementia. Costs of care were based on Medicare and other records. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study.