It’s time to invest in Alzheimer’s research

    Imagine waking up one morning and not knowing whether you’re in your own home, let alone your hometown. The faces around you are unfamiliar, and you don’t know who to ask for help, or what to say.
    This is a daily reality for more than 5.7 million Americans. These people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a debilitating, ultimately fatal chronic condition that destroys nerve cells in the brain. Currently, there is no cure.
    Alzheimer’s disease takes a huge toll on patients and our health system. It also significantly impacts caregivers, who are often unpaid family members who sacrifice their own well-being to tend to their loved ones.
    This financial and human toll can no longer be dismissed. It’s time to intensify our efforts to develop new treatments and cures.
    Every 65 seconds, someone in America develops Alzheimer’s. Their prognosis isn’t good — the disease kills one in three patients. Between 2000 and 2015, deaths from Alzheimer’s skyrocketed more than 120 percent. It’s currently the sixth leading cause of death in the country.  
    Alzheimer’s disease is costly. In 2018, medical care alone will cost $277 billion. Between 2017 and 2030, Americans will spend $7.7 trillion on the disease, accounting for both medical and unpaid caregiving costs according to a study from my organization, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease.
    Family members and friends provide staggering amounts of uncompensated care to Alzheimer’s patients. More than 16 million Americans act as unpaid caregivers. Among caregivers with full or part-time jobs, nearly three in five have missed work to care for their loved one. More than one in six had to stop working entirely.

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