medicine
Significant increase in Alzheimer’s treatments in hospitals
September 21st is World Alzheimer’s Day. photo
© Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa-tmn
In German hospitals, 82 percent more Alzheimer’s treatments are being carried out than 20 years ago. This significant increase is also due to the aging of the population.
The number of inpatient hospital treatments for Alzheimer’s has risen sharply over the past 20 years. In 2021, around 18,700 patients were hospitalized for incurable dementia in Germany, according to the Federal Statistical Office Wiesbaden announced on World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21st. This was 82 percent more treatments than 20 years previously.
Only during the corona pandemic in 2020 and 2021 were fewer people with Alzheimer’s in hospital, the Federal Office explained. Treatments that could be planned over the years have been partially postponed.
Twice as many deaths as 20 years ago
More than 9,200 people died of Alzheimer’s in 2021, almost twice as many as 20 years earlier (plus 94 percent). The significant increase in numbers can also be attributed to the aging of the population. According to the information, in 2021 there were 31 percent more people aged 65 and over and 88 percent more people aged 80 and over in Germany than 20 years before.
The risk of developing Alzheimer’s increases with age, as the Federal Office announced: around nine out of ten patients were 70 years old or older in 2021. Patients between the ages of 80 and 84 are particularly often treated in hospital, accounting for 30 percent of cases.