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The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.
Healthy Aging, Healthy Brain
Biomedical Research Section
Today, older adults are in better health and have lower disability rates than in previous generations, but many will encounter cognitive challenges that affect their physical, mental and social health. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia for older adults. Symptoms can first appear after 60 and risk increases with age. Early symptoms include mild memory loss and misplacing items, and can progress to losing the ability to hold a conversation, respond to the environment and carry out everyday activities.
In 2020, as many as 5.8 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease. The number of people over 65 with the disease doubles every five years, and that number is projected to nearly triple to 14 million people by 2060. Compared to Whites, people who identify as Black are twice as likely and people who identify as Hispanic are one and a half times as likely to have Alzheimer’s disease and dementias. Prevalence is higher among women—two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease are women.
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