More Firepower: Bill Gates Joins Fight against Alzheimer’s

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Did you know that someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s every 66 seconds?

Multi-billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates knows. He has had family impacted by the disease.

And that’s why he’s investing $50 million to fund research to find treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia that destroys memory and mental processing.

“It’s a terrible disease that devastates both those who have it and their loved ones,” Gates wrote on his blog recently. “I know how awful it is to watch people you love struggle as the disease robs them of their mental capacity, and there is nothing you can do about it. It feels a lot like you’re experiencing a gradual death of the person that you knew.”

Alzheimer’s is the No. 6 cause of death in the United States. It kills more people in U.S. than breast and prostate cancer combined. One in three senior citizens die with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

And it’s worse for Latinos.

Alzheimer’s Impact on Latinos

The disease affects more than 5 million Americans. That number is expected to spike to as high as 16 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Latinos have a higher rate of Alzheimer’s than whites.

During the first half of the 21st century, the rate of Latino elders with Alzheimer’s and other dementias increased more than six -fold. More than 200,000 cases exist today, with as many as 1.3 million expected by 2050. In a paradox, Latino life expectancy also is expected to increase to age 87 by 2050, surpassing all other ethnic groups in the United States.

Healthcare costs are also spiking for Alzheimer’s.

About 35% of caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s report that their health has worsened due to care responsibilities, compared to the 19% of caregivers of elders without dementia. In 2016, these caregivers provided an estimate of 18.2 billion hours of care valued at over $230 billion.

As a result, the human/economic cost is exponentially growing.

“A person with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia spends five times more every year out of pocket on health care than a senior without a neurodegenerative condition”, Gates wrote.

How to Stop It

Funding for Alzheimer’s will increase research on the cause of the disease which will lead to better diagnostics. Many drug and clinical trials are being tested to evaluate prevention or any slow down for the disease.

New theories are being hypothesized for scientists to better understand the disease, the pace of innovation is a marathon.

Gates believes that “it’ll take probably 10 years before new theories are tried enough times to give them a high chance of success.”

To leverage these encouraging developments, Alzheimer’s must become a Latino public health priority. So it will take a global effort to address this challenge and it starts with public awareness. Call on policymakers, health officials, industry leaders, community based programs to combat the mental illness epidemic.

Experts suggest $2 billion in research funding to provide the best chance in developing a treatment by 2025. To ensure that these treatments work for all communities, we need to support family caregivers of each rice. Include diverse voices and experiences in Alzheimer’s lab process from lab researchers to clinical participants.

Furthermore, we must bring Alzheimer’s out of the shadows in the Latino community and address the disease as a public health crisis that our nation cannot afford to ignore.

“This is a frontier where we can dramatically improve human life. It’s a miracle that people are living so much longer, but longer life expectancies alone are not enough,” Gates wrote. “People should be able to enjoy their later years—and we need a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s to fulfill that. I’m excited to join the fight and can’t wait to see what happens next.”

Get proactive and find out what you can do to help fight against Alzheimer’s:

• Latino Alzheimer’s & Memory Disorders Alliance has reached out to over 4500 Latinos in more than 20 communities in New York, California, Florida, Illinois, and Maryland.
• Latinos Against Alzheimer’s raises awarness of Alzheimer’s impact on the Latino community
• Alzheimer’s Association offers resources in Spanish to help Latino familiies understand and adapt to the obstacles of the disease
• UsAgainstAlzheimers helps increase public and private sector tools in stopping Alzheimer’s disease