During President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last Tuesday, he did something pretty remarkable……………………….. he mentioned Alzheimer’s disease in his speech. That was the first time a president has mentioned Alzheimer’s in his #SOTU in 13 years.
13 YEARS!
That’s a lot of years to be quite on this issue.
“Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s; developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries ten times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race.”
This mention is a huge step forward in terms of raising awareness of the disease among Americans who have not yet been touched by it. Here’s the thing: We have to make Alzheimer’s disease a big deal. Washington must make this a national priority because Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (like Frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, Lewy body dementia, etc) will touch everyone in this country, either directly or indirectly…………………………………………………….. remember, calm before the Tsunami.
While we can’t get overly excited by the president’s mention of the disease, it seems pretty obvious that the man knows Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are problem that will cost our country dearly.
So what can we do to make sure Washington knows to make this disease a priority? Well, for starters, you can send an e-mail.
From the folks at the White House:
President Obama’s State of the Union address is just the beginning; now we want to hear from you. Highlight a passage of the speech that was meaningful to you and tell the President how you’re connected to that issue. Then share that part of the speech with your friends.
Click to link to President Obama’s SOTU.
Spread the word. Post the link to Facebook, to Twitter, to everywhere you can because we have to do something or our Congress will do nothing.
See: Filibuster.
My Demented Mom 
[…] President Obama Says the “A” Word: Alzheimer’s. […]
Tsunami, for sure. I can’t even imagine 10 years from now. The boomers are just now entering their retirement age. We outnumber all other ages. How will the younger generation cope with the health care issues that will face them. From one of your posts I saw you blamed God. I would like to say that WE ARE TO BLAME. We eat the fats, the hormone-induced meats, the sugar, the articifical chemicals, smoke the poison tobacco, and then blame God. If we ate how he set the world up in the garden with good healthy fruits and vegetabes, nuts and legumes, it is possible no one would have this disease. But when I talk to groups about antioxidants vs free radicals, they in the beginning look at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What can we eat, then?” they ask as if I’ve taken away their binky. Well eat fruits, veggies and nuts or wait and eat your own poop later. I can’t believe how “food” has become the social thing rather than the thing that keeps us alive. By the end of the presentation when I use the same stats you use, 5,000,000, 1 in 8, billions of dollars of care being given, etc., etc., they start to sit up and listen. Then i present my table with good beautiful healthy foods and supplements and vitamins. I present the free radicals as Osama Ben Laden and his Al Kida, and the antioxidants as the Navy Seals. It’s a cute presentation, but we need to reach more and more people. We can’t depend on research for a cure or a medicine to cope. We need to take the action to live and eat a healthy lifestyle and diet. That’s my soapbox and I’m not backing down.