Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. It’s the only one where mortality rates are rising – +200% since 2000. And, it’s the most expensive disease in our country, costing an estimated $277 billion in 2018. While about six million people in the US have the disease, almost 16 million people care for them. If a cure is not found and mortality rates keep rising the costs could eventually overrun Medicare and Medicaid.
But my issue is more personal. My wife has Alzheimer’s. Diagnosed six years ago at age 60, she battles the disease every day. Whenever we’ve met with the congressman in the past, he has been very supportive of our efforts to increase Alzheimer’s Disease research funding. And, he was genuinely interested in us and our situation. That’s why I wanted to publicly offer my thanks to him.
My wife and I still have hope. Hope that the researchers will find a cure. Failing that, a treatment that will mitigate the effects of the disease. Hope that one day we’ll walk into our doctor’s office, and he will say “Try this.” Continued increase funding for Alzheimer’s research makes that more likely to happen.
Thank you, Congressman Woodall, for your continued support!
Marc Cochran
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