More than tax and equal to death, dementia is a certainty of life. If you live long enough, you will either develop dementia or care for a loved one with the mind-robbing curse. Tax may be avoided financially by reducing personal income or legally by the modification of tax laws, but no amount of money or authority can prevent dementia or death. However, unlike death, dementia is deferrable and may even be preventable.

Dementia affected 500,000 Canadians in 2010. The current life expectancy for Canadian women is 83 years, and men, 78 years; an increase of seven and nine years respectively from 20 years ago. And exponential advancements in medical sciences support the continuance of lengthened longevity so that most new births in Canada now can expect to be centenarians.1 Increased life expectancy and the rapid aging of “baby boomers” will dramatically increase the number of Canadians over the age of 65 from 4 million today to 10 million by 2036. More than 20% of seniors aged 80 and at least 40% of 90-year-olds now suffer dementia. The rate of dementia doubles every five years after aged 65—from about 2.5 % among 65-year-olds to over 40% in 90-year-olds. It is estimated that the one new dementia patient diagnosed every five minutes in 2008 (105,120 new cases per year) will increase to one every two minutes by 2038 (262,800 new cases per year). In a generation, the total number of Canadians with dementia will be greater than 1.1 million. The Alzheimer Society of Canada estimates that delaying the onset of dementia by two years would reduce the number of cases by 36% (approximately 38 million) of the estimated 106 million occurrences of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) expected globally by the year 2050, and deferring it by 10 years would essentially eradicate the affliction.2 The annual cost to the health care system of a Canadian with advanced Alzheimer’s disease is $37,000, and the lifetime costs per individual average $175,000. The economic costs already top $15 billion a year, including caregivers’ unpaid labour. The Alzheimer Society of Canada recently estimated that in three decades the expenses for dementia care will be a minimum of $150 billion. The cumulative economic burden of dementia between 2008 and 2038 is expected to be $872 billion (expressed in 2008 Canadian dollars).