Western New York advocate shares personal story of protecting brain health
 
BUFFALO, N.Y. (April 21, 2026) — Americans say brain health is as important as physical health as they age, yet most do not know how to protect it, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2026 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report and a nationwide survey released today by the Alzheimer’s Association.

 The annual report provides an in-depth look at the latest national and state-by-state data on Alzheimer’s prevalence, mortality, dementia care workforce, costs of care and impact on caregivers. New disease-related statistics for New York State revealed the following:

  •  Number of New York State residents aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s: 426,500
  • Statewide deaths from Alzheimer’s disease: 3,204
  • Statewide mortality rate from Alzheimer’s (per 100,000 people): 16.1
  •  Number of New York State residents serving as unpaid family caregivers: 776,000
  • Total hours of unpaid care provided: 1.3B
  • Total value of unpaid care: $33.8B

 “The latest data show Alzheimer’s remains a growing challenge for families in New York State,” said Amanda Nobrega, vice president of programs for the Western New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. “That’s why it’s critical to keep advancing research and developing treatments that can improve outcomes and support everyone facing the disease, including people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias in Western New York and their families.”

 Nationally, the impact of Alzheimer’s continues to grow. An estimated 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s. Annual care costs, excluding unpaid caregiving, are projected to reach $409 billion this year. Nearly 13 million family members and friends provided more than 19 billion hours of unpaid care last year. Since 2000, U.S. deaths from Alzheimer’s have increased 134%.

 An accompanying special report, Brain Health in America: Understanding and Supporting Lifelong Cognitive Health, highlights survey findings from more than 3,800 adults age 40 and older. Nearly all respondents said brain health is at least as important as physical health, yet only 9% said they know a lot about how to maintain it. More than two-thirds reported worrying about their brain health or developing dementia.

 While most adults believe healthy lifestyle behaviors support brain health, fewer make the connection to reducing dementia risk. Three-quarters said behaviors such as diet, exercise and sleep are important for brain health, but less than half strongly linked those habits to lowering their risk of Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia.

 Whitney Mendel, a member of the WNY Chapter Board of Directors and Alzheimer’s Advocate, made the decision to take care of her brain health when serving as a caregiver for her mother, who passed away due to Alzheimer’s disease in 2025.

 “While caring for my mom, who was living with dementia, I started thinking more seriously about my own brain health,” Mendel says. “Caring for someone with dementia can leave you feeling a bit helpless at times. Focusing on little things that I could do to take care of my brain health felt empowering. I picked up a brush and learned how to paint with watercolors to help challenge my brain to learn something new. I went for walks regularly to keep my body active and to help manage my blood pressure.”

Mendel found taking action to protect her own brain health had unexpected benefits. “I found that the little things I was doing to support my brain health also helped relieve some of the stress of caregiving,” she says. “I like to think that my mom and I both benefited from me taking care of my brain health.”
To address the needs identified in the survey, the Alzheimer’s Association is working with partners to deliver research-backed information and programs to help people support their brain health across community, workplace and health care settings. These efforts are informed by the landmark U.S. POINTER study, which found that combining multiple healthy habits can protect cognition function.

The full 2026 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report is available at alz.org/facts and will be published in the April 2026 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.