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Barr Says More Money Needed on Alzheimer's Research

Food NDTV

Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr says the federal government is not investing enough money in Alzheimer’s disease research.

The Lexington Republican says an estimated 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer’s and the number is expected to more than double over the next 35 years.

“Barring development in medical breakthroughs, the number will rise to 13.8 million by the year 2050. Almost half a million people age 65 or older will develop Alzheimer’s in the United States this year alone. To put that into perspective, every sixty-seven seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s.”

Barr says total 2015 payments to care for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other dementias are estimated at 226-billion dollars. That makes Alzheimer’s, says Barr, the costliest disease to society.       

He says efforts to reform Medicare must include recognition of the importance of investment in places like the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky.