[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16182-16183]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ALZHEIMER'S AWARENESS DAY

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, there is a thief abroad in 
this country stealing the cognitive powers of more than 5.3 million 
Americans. It costs $172 billion annually, but the money is not the 
true loss.
  The loss is a son who can still take his father to a ball game, but 
only the shell of a man remains in the bleacher seat beside him. The 
loss is a wife who sits at the dinner table with her husband but knows 
there will be no reciprocal conversation. The loss is a grandchild 
whose best friend can no longer play games with him.
  The robber who steals our relatives is Alzheimer's disease. There is 
no felony that can be charged against this killer,

[[Page 16183]]

even though it is the seventh leading cause of death in this country. 
And most discouraging is that there is no known cure.
  The disease afflicts African Americans and Hispanics at a higher rate 
than others, and those with a family history of Alzheimer's are also 
more at risk. But regardless, every 70 seconds, someone in this country 
will develop this disease.
  September 21 was Alzheimer's Awareness Day. It is worth the time to 
think about ways to support the fight against this disease.

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