(WKTV) - On World Alzheimer's Day, the Alzheimer's Association has released sobering numbers about the cost and reach of the disease, including right here in central New York.

Oneida County has seen the second-fastest growing Alzheimer's population from 2000-2008, with a 38.81% increase. Only Chenango County saw a larger increase in that time period, at 38.92%.

It can cost as much as $10,000 a month to place a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease in a local facility equipped to care for such patients. The human cost is much higher for loved ones who chose to care for their family members at home.

"You really need education; you need to have people to talk to who are going through or have gone through it who can talk you down to the rough points because they become somebody else," says Janice Durant, who moved back to central New York to care for her mother, Lillian, who has since passed away.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, if Dementia were a small country, its economy would be the 18th largest in the world, with total costs of care and treatment expected to top out around $604 billion in 2010.