Highlights:
- The likelihood of cognitive decline and other health conditions impacting the brain increases with age so, as medical advances and other factors help the world's population live longer, the prevalence of brain disease, including dementia, is on the rise.
- According to the American Heart Association's 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, nearly 56 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias – more than 6.9 million of them are in the U.S.
- An analysis of Medicare data reported in the statistical update estimates that the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias among the U.S. population will more than double to 13.9 million Americans by 2060.
- Experts say that nearly half of the risk factors for brain disease are modifiable; and that brain health can be improved through healthy diet, exercise and control of blood pressure, among other risk factors that are also related to cardiovascular disease.
DALLAS, March 12, 2025 — The average adult brain only weighs about 3 pounds, yet it is one of the most complex and vital organs of the human body. Cognition may decline and our brains become prone to disease as we age, so as medical advances and other factors help the world's population live longer the prevalence of brain disease, including dementia, is on the rise. However, keeping our brains healthy may be easier than people realize with some helpful guidance from the American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health of all.
Optimal brain health includes the functional ability to perform all the diverse tasks for which the brain is responsible – including thinking, moving and feeling. Many modifiable risk factors for cognitive loss, such as an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle, develop as early as childhood and adolescence. As we age, our ability to remember, problem-solve, think and communicate decreases.
"We now know that many of the same health risk factors that cause heart disease and stroke also contribute to a decline in overall brain health," said Mitchell S. V. Elkind, M.D., M.S., FAHA, a neurologist and former volunteer American Heart Association president and currently its chief clinical science officer. "Just like with heart disease and stroke, most brain disease is preventable. However, the combination of an aging population and projected substantial increases in high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes are likely to lead to unprecedented growth in many types of brain disease."
According to data reported in the 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of U.S. and Global Data From the American Heart Association:
- Alzheimer's disease is the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the leading cause of death among all neurological disorders, including stroke.
- More females than males die of dementia each year because of the higher prevalence of elderly females compared with males. Females accounted for 66.7% of U.S. dementia deaths in 2022.
- More than 6.9 million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer's disease.
- An analysis of Medicare data reported in the update estimates that prevalence will more than double to 13.9 million Americans by 2060.
Also reported in the statistical update:
- Worldwide, nearly 57 million people had Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in 2021, a 45% increase since 2010 and a 160% increase over the past 30 years (1990-2021). For comparison, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease increased 33% over the past decade and 111% over the past 30 years
- The increase in global deaths from Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is outpacing that of cardiovascular disease even more – dementia deaths increased by nearly 195% since 1990, compared to a 57% increase in cardiovascular deaths during that same time.
- Estimated U.S. healthcare spending on dementia more than doubled from $38.6 billion in 1996 to $79.2 billion in 2016. Spending on dementias was among the top 10 healthcare costs in the United States in 2016.
"The burden of brain disorders is high. Dementia as a cause of death is growing faster than any other disease, including heart disease, the number one cause of death worldwide. Paradoxically, as we get better at treating other conditions, like heart disease, stroke and cancer, dementia as a cause of death increases," Elkind said. "Using many of the same tools and information that have helped us successfully address cardiovascular risk factors and reduce the burden of heart disease over the past several decades, we should be able to do the same for brain disorders and promote brain health."
Elkind said following the American Heart Association's Life Essential 8™ can be as beneficial for brain health as it is for heart health. These include 4 health behaviors and 4 health factors identified as key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health:
- Health Behaviors: Eat Better
- Health Behaviors: Be More Active
- Health Behaviors: Quit Tobacco
- Health Behaviors: Get Healthy Sleep
- Health Factors: Manage Weight
- Health Factors: Control Cholesterol
- Health Factors: Manage Blood Sugar
- Health Factors: Manage Blood Pressure
"The American Heart Association is committed to advancing brain science through innovative research that will help scientists shed new light on the causes and contributors to cognitive impairment and dementia, particularly as it relates to heart and vascular health," Elkind said. "Additionally, we can support individuals and communities in thinking of brain health not only in terms of an absence of disease, but also in a more positive way. We can look at how we optimize brain function to include positive cognitive traits like creativity, adaptability, resilience, empathy and others."
He said the increasing cost of poor brain health in lives and dollars makes the Association's ongoing commitment to better understand how brains age and how vascular health impacts brain health and overall well-being even more imperative.
"When people are asked what health conditions they fear the most with aging, dementia tops the list, surpassing even cancer, heart disease and stroke," Elkind said. "It's critical that as a society and as individuals we understand and make the changes needed to improve health outcomes from brain disease and, more importantly, prevent them to begin with."
Learn more about brain health at heart.org.
