Letter: Make Alzheimer’s research a priority

Published 5:30 am Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease.

This is the most expensive disease in the country. In 2019, caring for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias cost $290 BILLION, including $195 BILLION in direct costs to Medicare and Medicaid.

Thankfully, in the most recent budget agreement, bipartisan leaders have made funding Alzheimer’s and dementia research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) a priority by increasing the federal investment in Alzheimer’s and dementia research funding to $2.8 billion a year.

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As an Alzheimer’s Ambassador, I would formally like you to join me in thanking our Minnesota Congressional  leadership for their support and understanding of how devastating this disease is, and how important funding continued research is.

Amy Klobacher, Tina Smith, Jeanne Poppe, Dan Sparks and Jim Hagedorn have taken action to help and support families like mine who have lost so much to this cruel and incurable affliction.  They understand that the statistics of this disease have reached epidemic proportions. They know that there has not been one survivor of Alzheimer’s disease. Not one. There is no cure. But they have supported finding one…

It is only through increased research funding that we will discover new ways to treat and eventually prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Please visit ALZ.ORG to learn more and view the related facts and figures report.

Mary Lindgren
Austin, MN