Report: One in three US adults dies with dementia.

USA Today (3/19, Lloyd, 1.71M) reports, "A new report showing one in three older adults dies with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia is raising concerns about the disease's 'pervasive' scope and the spiraling costs of care," according to a report to be released March 18 by the Alzheimer's Association. The report found that "deaths from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia have increased 68% from 2000 to 2010." USA Today adds, "The Alzheimer's numbers 'are simply staggering,' says Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency overseeing research for 233 areas of disease."

        The New York Daily News (3/19, Evans, 543K) reports, "Records released Tuesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control show that the degenerative brain disease was the cause of death for 83,494 people in 2010 and was listed as a contributing factor for 26,488 additional people." Currently, "Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the US, and the fifth leading cause of death in people over 65."

        The AP (3/19, Neergaard) reports, "Dying with Alzheimer's is not the same as dying from it. But even when dementia isn't the direct cause of death, it can be the final blow – speeding someone's decline by interfering with their care for heart disease, cancer or other serious illnesses. That's the assessment of the report." NPR (3/19, Hamilton) also covers the story on its "Shots" blog and "Morning Edition" program.

        Experts: Funding for Alzheimer's research hasn't caught up. Bloomberg News (3/19, Tirrell, Armstrong) reports, "The US in recent years has taken action to address a looming public health crisis tied to the aging of the Baby Boomers, the generation born from 1946 to 1964. While the National Alzheimer's Project Act was signed into law in January 2011 to coordinate efforts to treat and prevent Alzheimer's, funding hasn't caught up, advocates and researchers said." Neurology professor David Knopman, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, stated, "Even before the sequester, the National Institute on Aging was only funding about one in 10 of the grants they received even though easily twice as many were meritorious." He added, "It might get worse now."