Alzheimer’s Disease And Life Expectancy

It is tricky to figure out the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on life expectancy and longevity. The problem is that people are normally older when they are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and they may have multiple conditions impacting their life expectancy.

Using a new statistical approach, researchers have combined sources from multiple databases to conclude that late-stage Alzheimer’s disease increases the risk of death each year by 8%. This 8% increase in risk remains constant with aging and is added to other risk factors, such as heart disease.

_Source(s):

Johnson, Elizabeth; Brookmeyer, Ron; and Ziegler-Graham, Kathryn (2007) "Modeling the Effect of Alzheimer's Disease on Mortality," The International Journal of Biostatistics: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1, Article 13.