One in five baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
That is more than the billions of dollars the chronic disease is costing health-care systems globally, Dr. Howard Bergman said, and that is the most striking statistic.
Bergman is an internationally recognized scientist on aging, in particular on health services and policy, frailty and chronic disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. He addressed the Aging Research in Newfoundland and Labrador: Achievements and Prospects conference held in Corner Brook Monday.
Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimer’s symptoms first appear after age 60.
Bergman said the disease is misunderstood and underestimated, as well as being underfunded in terms of research. However, there is a considerable amount of time and effort being put into Alzheimer’s and related diseases through the Quebec Alzheimer Plan. His speech Monday was pertaining to the never-ending cycle from practice to policy to research, and back….
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October 9, 2012