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Letter: We need to accelerate Alzheimer’s research

Every 65 seconds someone in this country develops Alzheimer’s disease. I know how devastating it is for the person living with it and everyone around them. My grandfather had dementia and my parents uprooted everything they had build to care for him. They missing college graduations, birthdays and family vacations for a full decade due to this disease.  

Today, there are 73,000 Coloradans living with Alzheimer’s, and without medical breakthroughs, that number is expected to grow by 26 percent within the next decade. We need to accelerate research now to ensure no family must endure what mine has. This is also a financial issue for all of us. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the nation $290 billion this year with two-thirds of that cost borne by the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Congress can help Colorado families struggling with Alzheimer’s and taxpayers by supporting a $350 million increase in the National Institutes of Health budget for Alzheimer’s and other dementias research next year. Thank you, Rep. Scott Tipton, for actively supporting legislation that helps Alzheimer’s families in the past and considering the value of this investment in our future -— to create a world without Alzheimer’s. 



Meaghan Ziegler

Carbondale 


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