US group exposes price of low-cost AD approach

A new study providing the first economic estimates of the impact of new treatments that could delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease concludes that such therapies would be worth "trillions of dollars to Americans," according to Accelerate Cure and Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease (ACT-AD), a coalition of not-for-profit organizations.

In a statement, ACT-AD said that the results add "an important new dimension to projections of the coming Alzheimer's epidemic because they allow a quantified dollar value to be assigned to issues such as longevity, productivity and quality of life that have previously been left out of the Alzheimer's discussion." The study also suggests what steps should be taken now to help avert an epidemic that the Alzheimer's Association estimates will cost Medicare alone $160.0 billion per year by 2010.

The paper, titled: Alzheimer's Disease and Cost-effectiveness Analyses: Ensuring Good Value for Money? assumes a scenario in which a treatment were made available to patients by 2010 which could delay the onset of AD by up to five years, resulting in a present value benefit to the US economy of about $3,970.0 billion by 2050. Even a drug that delayed onset of the disease for only one year could result in a benefit of $1,200.0 billion.