Every 65 seconds someone in this country develops Alzheimer\u2019s 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 built to care for them. Missing college graduations, birthdays, family vacations and their choice for a full decade due to this disease.<\/p>\n
Today, there are 73,000 Coloradans living with Alzheimer\u2019s, and without medical breakthroughs, that number is expected to grow by 26% within the next decade. We need to accelerate research now to ensure no family must endure what mine has. This also is a financial issue for all of us. Alzheimer\u2019s and other dementias will cost the nation $290 billion this year with two-thirds of that cost borne by the Medicare and Medicaid programs.<\/p>\n
Congress can help Colorado families struggling with Alzheimer\u2019s and taxpayers by supporting a $350 million increase in the National Institutes of Health budget for Alzheimer\u2019s and other dementias research next year. Thank you, Congressman Scott Tipton, for actively supporting legislation that helps Alzheimer\u2019s families in the past and considering the value of this investment in our future \u2014 to create a world without Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Meaghan Ziegler<\/p>\n
Carbondale<\/p>\n