 |
| President Ronald Reagan |
While Alzheimer's diease was first described in 1901 by a German physician, it was relatively unknown until the last quarter of the 20th century. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month. Years later, Reagan himself suffered with the disease. When one of my dearest friends was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,
I realized that I knew very little about the disease. I soon learned that Alzheimer’s
is the most common form of dementia, which is a collective term for a number of
conditions marked by a loss of mental abilities. Generally the disease begins
near the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus, and then spreads to areas of
the brain that control language, judgment, and physical activity. This cruel
ailment steals our memories, steals our independence and finally steals our
dignity by eroding the ability to manage the basic tasks of daily life.
 |
| Jimmy Stewart |
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 5.2 million
Americans had Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, a figure that has risen steadily
over the years. Nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer’s sufferers are women. Young people can develop Alzheimer’s, but the
disease is most common among those over 65. It is degenerative and gets worse
over time. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and no treatment that appears to
stop its spread in the brain. Experts emphasize that the severe decline in
mental capacity caused by Alzheimer’s is not a normal sign of aging. The minor
problems that we all call “senior moments” are not indicative of any disease.
Signs of a clinical state of dementia, in contrast, are much more serious.
 |
| Sugar Ray Robinson |
Cases are increasing and the costs are staggering, devouring
federal and state health care budgets and depleting the life savings of
millions of victims and their families. Recent studies show that the cost of
caring for Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has surpassed
the cost of treatment for cancer patients or victims of heart disease. Alzheimer’s
currently cost the United States some $214 billion annually. While deaths from
some cancers and heart disease are declining, the number of Alzheimer’s cases
continues to increase every year as the population grows older. Care of victims
will cost Medicare and Medicaid $150 billion in the current fiscal year, the
remaining costs fall on the patients and their families. . Some health care
professionals fear that if we don’t get control of over this disease, it is
going to bankrupt both Medicare and Medicaid.
 |
| Estelle Getty |
Washington has committed $5.4 billion this fiscal year to
cancer research, about $1.2 billion on heart disease and $3 billion to research
on HIV/AIDS. Research funding for Alzheimer’s will reach only about $566
million. Obviously, we are not spending nearly enough to find ways to deal with
this problem. The National Alzheimer’s
Project created by Congress in 2011 projects that achieving a goal of
developing methods of prevention and effective treatment by 2025 will require
$2 billion annually over the next decade. Congress to date has never approved
more than $600 million in annual funding-less than one-third of the projected
minimal requirement.
Seth Rogan, star of movies such as Knocked Up and Super Bad
took up the cause when he saw his mother-in-law disabled by dementia before she
turned 60. Many familiar public faces were sufferers of Alzheimer’s, i.e.
former
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, former
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, boxers Floyd Patterson and Sugar Ray Robinson, actors Charlton Heston, Rita Hayworth, Charles Bronson, and Peter Falk, singer Etta James and Perry Como, columnist
Abigail Van Buren, TV stars Estelle Getty (Sophia on Golden Girls) and Burgess Meredith (Penguin onf Batman TV series)... and the list goes on and on. Since there’s
no cure for the disease and no treatment to stop the spread in the brain, “there’s
never been a patient who recovered from Alzheimer’s” notes Robert Egge, chief
public policy officer at the Alzheimer’s Association.
We have to start talking about this disease, learning about it,
overcomig the stigmas associated with it, and getting the attention needed to secure
the funding it deserves and needs. 2015 is a great time to start.
