Health and human resource officials gather in Washington today and tomorrow to discuss how to frame the war against Alzheimer’s. With 4.5 million people living with the disease in 2000, it’s estimated that Alzheimer’s will explode as we age as a nation, with 13.2 million people 65 and over suffering from Alzheimers by 2050.
“The No. 1 goal stated in the early draft of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act is to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s by 2025. Although the funding levels have not been determined, disease experts compare the multi-agency federal approach of NAPA to the wars on heart disease and cancer,” writes James Lloyd in a USA Today article. President Obama signed NAPA into law a year ago.
Alzheimers ranks #6 as a cause of death in the US, after heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, and accidents. USA Today has some good video footage about care and treatment of people living with dementia.
The final draft of NAPA arrives in Health and Human Services in February. The illness costs Medicare/Medicaid $130 billion a year now, and we must learn how to stop or prevent Alzheimer’s before the nation ages into bankruptcy.