[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11202]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             SPREADING AWARENESS ABOUT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Alzheimer's disease 
affects 4 million Americans, and that number is expected to triple 
within the next 50 years. Nearly half of those over the age of 85 have 
Alzheimer's. It is a disease that touches almost every American family 
in some way, and I believe it is time to increase funding for 
Alzheimer's research to find a cure.
  The disease process can begin in the brain as many as 20 years before 
the symptoms appear; and, once diagnosed, a person's average life-span 
is 8 years. Due to lost productivity of employees who are caregivers 
and the health care costs associated with Alzheimer's, the disease 
costs American families more than $61 billion annually.
  South Carolinians are particularly concerned about Alzheimer's 
because one of our favorite sons, former Congressman and Governor 
Carroll Campbell, is undergoing treatment for the disease and is being 
encouraged by his devoted wife Iris with his sons Carroll, Jr., and 
Mike.
  I would like to commend the efforts of the Coastal Carolina, Mid-
State and Upstate chapters of the Alzheimer's Association along with 
the Alzheimer's facility of the Lexington Medical Center. These South 
Carolinians have worked tirelessly to spread awareness about this 
disease, and their efforts today to find a cure will hopefully save 
many Americans in the future.

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