A new report released by the Alzheimer's Association outlined women's risk of developing Alzheimer's.The report stated that a women's average estimated lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer's is one in six, for men it is only one in 11, a news release reported.
Many women worry about breast cancer; females in their 60s are around twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's over their lifetimes as breast cancer. Women are also prevalent in Alzheimer's care.
It has been estimated that there are 2.5 times as many women providing "on-care" duty 24 hours to someone living with Alzheimer's disease and are more likely than men to feel isolated as a result.
"Through our role in the development of The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's in 2010, in conjunction with Maria Shriver, we know that women are the epicenter of Alzheimer's disease, representing majority of both people with the disease and Alzheimer's caregivers. Alzheimer's Association Facts and Figures examines the impact of this unbalanced burden," Angela Geiger, Chief Strategy Officer of the Alzheimer's Association, said in the news release. "Well-deserved investments in breast cancer and other leading causes of death such as heart disease, stroke and HIV/AIDS have resulted in substantial decreases in death. Comparable investments are now needed to realize the same success with Alzheimer's in preventing and treating the disease."Women who are Alzheimer's caregivers and try to maintain a career often experience a number of difficulties.
The study found that about 20 percent of women compared with three percent of men went from working full-time to part-time as a caregiver; 18 percent of women vs. 11 percent of men took a leave of absence; 11 percent of women and five percent of men quit their jobs; and 10 percent of women vs. five percent of men lost their job benefits.
"There are currently 15.5 million caregivers providing 17.7 billion hours of unpaid care in the U.S., often at the detriment of their own health. The physical and emotional impact of dementia caregiving resulted in an estimated $9.3 billion in increased healthcare costs for Alzheimer's caregivers in 2013," the news release reported.
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