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The risk of developing Alzheimer's increases with age
Photo: Jasmin Merdan / Getty Images
The number of Alzheimer's patients is increasing rapidly.
As the Federal Statistical Office announced on World Alzheimer's Day on September 21, 19,356 people nationwide had to be hospitalized with this diagnosis in 2020.
The number of inpatient treatments has more than doubled within 20 years: in 2000 there were 8116 treatments.
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In 2020, a total of 9,450 people died of Alzheimer's in Germany - according to the Federal Statistical Office, that was more than ever before.
This number has also more than doubled compared to the year 2000 - at that time 4535 deaths were registered, as the office in Wiesbaden reported on Tuesday.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and there is currently no cure.
Brain disease leads to the loss of mental functions such as thinking, language, judgment and orientation, and to the death or severe damage of brain cells.
"The risk of illness increases with age," according to the statisticians: Around 95 percent of the patients affected in 2020 were 65 years and older.
The age group of the very old from 80 years of age was treated particularly frequently in hospital for Alzheimer's;
more than half of all those affected belonged to this age group.
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"The increase in hospital treatments and deaths with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's is at least partly due to an aging population," according to the Federal Statistical Office.
The number of people over 65 in Germany increased by around 33 percent between 2000 and 2020.
The age group from 80 years has even grown by more than 90 percent.
In Germany, around 1.8 million people are considered to be suffering from dementia.
Due to the increasing life expectancy, experts reckon that up to 2.8 million people will be affected by the year 2050, unless there is a breakthrough in therapy.
World Alzheimer's Day is held annually on September 21 to draw attention to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
This year in Germany, not least because of the contact restrictions in the corona pandemic, the motto is »Dementia – stay connected«.
mar/dpa/AFP
