LETTER: We all have a stake in fight to defeat menace of Alzheimer’s

To Ozaukee Press:

Alzheimer’s is a public health crisis that affects everyone. There are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and more than 16 million unpaid Alzheimer’s caregivers. Among them are the 110,000 people with Alzheimer’s living in Wisconsin, along with their caregivers.     As an Alzheimer’s advocate, it is my honor to represent them. I lost my mother Velma to Alzheimer’s in 2015. As an elder law attorney, I work with families who are affected by this deadly disease and see the challenges they face.

My son Ken and I recently traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement Advocacy Forum convening more than 1,200 advocates from across the nation. While on Capitol Hill, I joined a group of 31 advocates from Wisconsin who met with the staff of Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson. Also, a group of four of us met with Rep. Glenn Grothman.

We explained to them why Congress must continue to prioritize legislative action against Alzheimer’s. We also thanked Baldwin for co-sponsoring, and Grothman and Johnson for supporting, the Alzheimer’s Act, which recognizes that Alzheimer’s is a public health crisis and lays the groundwork for an infrastructure that will share data, best practices and research across the country. It became law late last year.

I asked our Wisconsin legislators to support legislation that will provide researchers, health care professionals, caregivers and individuals with the educational tools and resources necessary to meaningfully combat Alzheimer’s. Specifically, I urged them to support funding for increased Alzheimer’s disease research at the National Institutes of Health, as well as funding to implement the Alzheimer’s law. I am hopeful and optimistic that these requests will see support by our Wisconsin representatives in Congress.

Alzheimer’s is not only the sixth leading cause of death in the country, it also ranks as America’s most expensive disease, with total costs nationwide on track to surpass $290 billion in 2019, an increase of nearly $13 billion since last year.  

To learn more about this disease and how you can join the fight to end Alzheimer’s, visit alzimpact.org.

Carol Wessels
Cedarburg