[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 31255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 31255]]

                RECOGNIZING ALZHEIMER'S AWARENESS MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 18, 1999

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month--
This month we recognize the 4 million Americans victimized by this 
devastating disease and the family members who are most often their 
primary caregivers.
  Alzheimer's Disease is debilitating, indiscriminate and cruel--it 
creeps into the brain, captures the mind and renders its victims with 
impaired judgment, personality change and loss of language and 
communication skills.
  Today, Alzheimer's is on track to wreak havoc as the epidemic of the 
next century burdening our nation's health care system and leaving 
millions of American families in emotional and financial ruin. It is 
predicted that by 2050, 14 million Americans will be afflicted. We need 
a strategy today.
  As part of this strategy, we must recognize that there are thousands 
of spouses and other family members struggling to provide care for 
their loved ones in their homes each year. Seven in ten people with 
Alzheimer's disease live at home. Almost 75% of home care is provided 
by family and friends placing a tremendous emotional burden on these 
caregivers and a financial burden averaging $12,500 per at home 
patient.
  Each year, Alzheimer's costs our nation at least $100 billion and 
American business $33 billion, most of that in the lost work of 
employees who are caregivers.
  It is imperative that we increase the federal commitment to this 
disease. We must create new programs to relieve caregivers and we must 
continue our work toward treatment and a cure. Last year the federal 
government dedicated $400 million to Alzheimer's research, but that's 
still not enough--the federal commitment to heart, cancer and AIDS 
research--diseases of comparable cost to our country--is 3 to 5 times 
higher. Next fiscal year we must increase research dollars for 
Alzheimer's by $100 million.
  Last June--in an effort to encourage legislative solutions to deal 
with Alzheimer's--I along with my colleague from across the aisle Chris 
Smith--kicked off the first bipartisan Task Force on Alzheimer's 
Disease. To date we have 82 members with a goal of reaching 100 by 
2000.
  The time has come to wage a serious war against Alzheimer's disease. 
The time has come to fight for solutions to improve the lives of those 
affected today and to fight for a cure to save the lives of those who 
will be affected tomorrow.

                          ____________________