September 2026. World Alzheimer's Month

Almost Two-Thirds Of Everyone Living With This Disease Is A Woman. The Rest Of The Story Isn't Who You'd Guess Either.

More than 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older live with Alzheimer's, and almost two-thirds of them are women. That much gets said every September. What usually gets left out: Black Americans develop it at twice the rate of white Americans, Hispanic Americans at one and a half times the rate, veterans carry measurably higher risk tied directly to PTSD and brain injury, LGBTQ+ caregivers face health consequences most caregiving guides never mention, and families in rural America travel more than ten times farther to see a neurologist than families in cities do. This page is the part of the story that doesn't make the flyer.

Purple Ribbon & Forget-Me-Not. World Alzheimer's Day, September 21.
7.4M
Americans age 65 and older living with Alzheimer's, 4.5 million of them women. Source: Alzheimer's Association.
2 in 3
Americans living with Alzheimer's who are women. A woman's lifetime risk of developing it at age 65 is 1 in 5. Source: Alzheimer's Association.
2x
how much more likely older Black Americans are to have Alzheimer's or another dementia than older white Americans. Source: Alzheimer's Association.
100 mi
average distance a rural family travels to reach a neurologist, versus 9 miles in urban areas. Source: Alzheimer's & Dementia journal, Washington State University study.
Who Carries This Weight
Alzheimer's does not land on every group the same way. Here is what the data actually shows about who is diagnosed with it, who is caring for someone with it, and who has to fight harder just to get seen.

Women

Nearly two-thirds of Americans living with Alzheimer's are women, and more than 60% of unpaid caregivers are women too. Over one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters.

More than 12 million women are living with it or caring for someone who is.

Black Americans

21.3% of Black Americans age 70 and older are living with Alzheimer's, twice the rate of older white Americans. Half report experiencing discrimination while seeking care for a loved one.

Hispanic Americans

About 13% of Hispanic Americans 65 and older have Alzheimer's or another dementia, one and a half times the rate of white Americans. One in three report discrimination seeking health care.

Veterans

Veterans with PTSD have almost double the dementia risk of veterans without it. Traumatic brain injury, even a mild one, raises dementia risk years after the injury occurred.

LGBTQ+ Caregivers

LGBTQ+ adults caring for someone with dementia are three times more likely to experience minority stress and twice as likely to report suicidal ideation than LGBTQ+ non-caregivers.

2025 study, Southern United States.

Rural Families

Rural residents travel an average of 100 miles to reach a neurologist. Native American and Hispanic patients travel further than other groups even after accounting for location.

The Caregiving Weight
The Caregiving Weight

Women Are More Likely To Get Alzheimer's, And More Likely To Be The One Holding The Family Together While Someone Else Has It.

Women in their 60s are about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's over the rest of their lives as they are to develop breast cancer. That statistic alone rarely makes it into general health conversations. Then the same women are also disproportionately the ones providing care: more than 60% of Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers are women, and they take on more caregiving tasks, spend more hours doing it, and care for people with more advanced symptoms than male caregivers do.

Nearly 19% of women Alzheimer's caregivers had to quit work entirely, either to become a caregiver or because the caregiving load became too heavy to carry alongside a job. This is not a side effect of the disease. For millions of women, it is a second, unpaid, often unacknowledged job on top of the first one.

The Numbers Behind The Headline
1 in 5
a woman's estimated lifetime risk of Alzheimer's at age 65
60%+
of unpaid Alzheimer's caregivers who are women
19%
of women caregivers who had to quit work
Why It Falls On Daughters Specifically

Over one-third of dementia caregivers are daughters, and it is more common for wives to provide informal care for a husband than the reverse. Female caregivers are also 2.5 times more likely than male caregivers to live full-time with the person they're caring for, which is a different, heavier kind of caregiving than checking in on weekends.

Sources: Alzheimer's Association, "Women and Alzheimer's."

The Access Gap

Distance And Discrimination Decide How Early Alzheimer's Gets Caught, And Neither One Is Evenly Spread.

Where you live changes how long it takes to see a neurologist. A Washington State University study of nearly 95,000 residents found people in urban areas live an average of 9 miles from a neurologist. That distance grows to 45 miles in suburban areas, 88 miles in small towns, and 100 miles in rural areas. Native American and Hispanic patients traveled roughly 28 and 22 miles respectively, further than the 7 to 17 miles other groups traveled, even when researchers accounted for where they lived.

Trust gaps compound the distance gap. Only 20% of Black Americans say they have no barriers to excellent Alzheimer's care, and half report experiencing discrimination while seeking care for someone they love. More than 80% of primary care physicians report providing dementia care, but most say they received little to no training in it, which means the provider closest to a family is often the least equipped one.

The Distance, By Geography
9 mi
average distance, urban areas
45 mi
average distance, suburban areas
88 mi
average distance, small towns
100 mi
average distance, rural areas
What Delayed Diagnosis Actually Costs

Longer travel distances are linked to delayed diagnoses, and delayed diagnoses mean higher costs of care, a lower chance of preserving cognitive function, and a lower quality of life for the person living with the disease. This is not an inconvenience. It's a measurable difference in outcome, decided largely by a zip code.

Sources: Amiri et al., Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, Washington State University; Alzheimer's Association, "Black Americans and Alzheimer's."

Myths, Debunked
Myth
Serious memory loss is just a normal part of getting older.
Fact
Alzheimer's is a fatal brain disease, not a normal stage of aging. More than half of Black Americans and 57% of Hispanic Americans surveyed believed significant cognitive loss was a natural part of aging rather than a disease, a belief that can delay someone from getting checked at all.
Myth
Alzheimer's only affects the person who's diagnosed.
Fact
More than 12 million women alone are either living with Alzheimer's or caring for someone who has it. The disease reshapes an entire household's routine, finances, and health long before it ends any one life.
Myth
A veteran's risk for dementia is the same as anyone else's.
Fact
Veterans with PTSD have almost double the dementia risk of veterans without it, and traumatic brain injury raises dementia risk even years after the injury happened. These are risks tied directly to service.
Myth
If a family lives near a hospital, distance to care isn't really a factor.
Fact
A hospital isn't a neurology practice. Even families classified as living in "small towns" travel an average of 88 miles to reach a neurologist, a distance that adds up every time a follow-up visit is needed.
Myth
Caregiving stress looks the same no matter who the caregiver is.
Fact
A 2025 study of LGBTQ+ older adults in the Southern U.S. found dementia caregivers were three times more likely to experience minority stress and twice as likely to report suicidal ideation than LGBTQ+ non-caregivers. General caregiver support doesn't automatically account for that.
Myth
Race and ethnicity don't actually change someone's odds of getting Alzheimer's.
Fact
Older Black Americans are about twice as likely, and Hispanic Americans about one and a half times as likely, to have Alzheimer's or another dementia as older white Americans. Researchers haven't fully explained why, but the gap itself is well documented.
What Actually Moves The Needle
  • If you're a woman in your 60s, ask your doctor to have a real memory and cognition conversation at your next physical, not only after something already feels wrong. Your lifetime risk at 65 is 1 in 5.
  • If you live more than 30 minutes from a neurologist, ask your primary care provider directly: "Have you had specific training in dementia care, or should I ask for a referral now instead of waiting?" More than 80% of PCPs handle dementia care, but most report little to no training in it.
  • If you're evaluating care for a Black or Hispanic family member, ask upfront whether the provider or facility has cultural competency training, since trust and communication gaps are documented barriers, not just perception.
  • If you're a veteran, or you love one, name a PTSD or head injury history out loud at checkups. It changes the risk conversation, and it should change how closely memory gets watched.
  • If you're an LGBTQ+ caregiver, look for caregiver support built specifically for LGBTQ+ needs, such as SAGECare, rather than defaulting to a general support group that won't account for minority stress.
  • If you know a caregiver, offer a specific block of time, not a general "let me know if you need anything." Caregiving duties fall disproportionately on women, and a defined two or three hour window is something they can actually use.
  • Call the Alzheimer's Association's free 24/7 Helpline at 800.272.3900 for guidance in over 200 languages, for yourself or for someone you love.
Where To Go From Here
Primary Advocacy Org

Alzheimer's Association

The leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support, and research, with a free 24/7 helpline in over 200 languages.

↗ alz.org
Government Resource

CDC Healthy Brain Initiative

Federal data, public health strategy, and caregiver resources on Alzheimer's and cognitive decline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

↗ cdc.gov/aging/healthy-brain
LGBTQ+ Elder & Caregiver Support

SAGE

The country's largest advocacy and services organization for LGBTQ+ older adults, including dementia caregiving resources and SAGECare provider training.

↗ sageusa.org
Veteran-Specific Support

VA Caregiver Support Program

Clinical services, respite care, and benefits guidance for caregivers of veterans living with Alzheimer's or another dementia.

↗ caregiver.va.gov
This content is for awareness and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider for diagnosis, screening, and treatment decisions.
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