Alzheimer's Cases Rise to 7.4 Million in 2026, Experts Say Midlife Is the Time to Act
7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's disease in 2026, up 200,000 from the previous year, according to the Alzheimer's Association's annual report released April 21. Experts say midlife is the critical window for addressing modifiable risk factors like diet, exercise, sleep, and blood pressure.
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7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's disease in 2026, an increase of about 200,000 from a year ago, according to the Alzheimer's Association's annual facts and figures report released April 21.
Nearly 13 million caregivers, family members, and volunteers provided more than 19 billion hours of unpaid care for people with the disease. The estimated value of that care is nearly $450 billion.
Alzheimer's, the most common type of dementia, affects about 1 in 9 adults aged 65 and older. As Baby Boomers age and Generation X approaches retirement, the number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to grow to 82 million by 2050, up from 65 million today.
"One of the findings we had is midlife is the time to act, not later," said Chris Weber, the Alzheimer's Association's senior director of global scientific initiatives. "That's when a lot of conditions that can potentially affect our brain health start to appear."
The report listed modifiable risk factors that can shape brain health over a lifetime, including diet, exercise, adequate sleep, and managing blood pressure. The Lancet Commission identified 14 factors that could lower dementia risk if eliminated, including lower education, vision loss, high cholesterol, head injury, physical inactivity, smoking, excess alcohol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, hearing loss, depression, infrequent social contact, and air pollution.
A U.S. study of 375,000 people estimated more than one-third of dementia cases were mainly linked to midlife obesity, physical inactivity, and low educational attainment.
Patty Kelly, a participant in a Rush University Medical Center lifestyle study, said she changed her diet, increased exercise, and added brain-training games after watching her mother decline from the disease. "Just knowing I'm doing something for my brain health makes me feel so good," she said.
More than 9 in 10 adults aged 40 and older surveyed for the report said maintaining brain health is as important as physical health, but just about 1 in 10 said they knew a lot about how to do it.
