Heat Maps of Alzheimer’s Diagnosis and its Factors Across the United States

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is an ailment that is tightening its grip on global health and more specifically, elderly well being. It affects nearly 5% of Americans aged 65-74, climbing to 13.1% of Americans aged 75-84, and finally rising to 33.2% of Americans aged 85 and older. Despite these rather high percentages of  what is now figuratively a household disease, there is no viable cure for it. 1 of 3 seniors die with Alzheimer’s, and in 2019, it was the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. With mortality rates rising, the only interventionary measures against Alzheimer’s come in the form of prevention and awareness. However, it can be observed that the diagnosis rate varies greatly from one state to another. This paper aims to isolate factors from each state as either advantages or disadvantages toward the Alzheimer’s diagnosis rate,  further enhance our preventative measures of Alzheimer’s, and better our understanding of the disease itself.