Alzheimer's at 106 million by 2050

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WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- By 2050, more than 106 million people worldwide are expected to have Alzheimer's disease, up from 26 million in 2006, U.S. researchers say.

By 2050, 43 percent of those with Alzheimer's disease will need high-level care, equivalent to that of a nursing home, said study lead author Ron Brookmeyer, of the The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

"By 2050, 1 in 85 persons worldwide will have Alzheimer's disease. However, if we can make even modest advances in preventing Alzheimer's disease or delay its progression, we could have a huge global public health impact," Brookmeyer said in a statement.

The largest increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer's will occur in Asia, where 48 percent of the world's Alzheimer's cases currently reside, he added.

Brookmeyer created a multi-state mathematical computer model using U.N. population projections and other data on the incidence and mortality rates of Alzheimer's disease.

The findings were presented at the Second Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Prevention of Dementia in Washington. The study is also published in the Association's journal, Alzheimer's & Dementia.