It is time we change our thinking on Alzheimer’s disease. Too often Alzheimer’s is treated as an aging issue, ignoring the public health consequences of a disease that someone in the U.S. develops every 66 seconds. And with two-thirds of its annual costs being borne by Medicare and Medicaid, it is one that demands more attention fro, our government.
As someone who has been around the disease before it had a name, someone who was a caregiver for over 13 years to my mother until she succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease, I understand the disease’s physical and emotional impact and cost of the disease.
Congress has a chance to take decisive action passing the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (S.2076/H.R. 4256). Endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association, the BOLD infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act would create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure across the country to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions including increasing early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.
Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in the U.S. Alzheimer’s costs the country more than $259 billion a year, which is why we need the BOLD infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act. If we are going to end Alzheimer’s disease, then we must start treating like the public health threat it is.
Join me in asking our U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Don Young to fight for the millions of Americans affected by Alzheimer’s by sponsoring the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act.
Cindy Harris,
Soldotna
• My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.