Increase Alzheimer Disease Research Funding

In the past 100 years, the world has been blessed by a surge in average Life Expectancy. The average US citizen now lives almost 80 years. The average Japanese citizen will live a bit longer. But this hasn't been all perfect.

This increase in life-expectancy has seen a very serious disease emerge, a disease that effectively shuts down the brain, a disease that now affects over 30 million people worldwide. Alzheimer's Disease. And its about to get worse.

Alzheimer's Disease is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks the brain, and robs one of the ability to think and process thoughts. It starts of mildly, with the victim having the occasional memory problem, but ends with agony, the victim often unable to even string two words together. It's a disease which occurs more frequently in people aged 65 or over. In 2050, scientists predict over 110 million people will be suffering from Alzheimer's.

Currently, 600 billion dollars is spent a year on Dementia healthcare. If dementia care was an economy, it would be the 18th biggest in the world. People might say, "Alzheimer's can be ignored because the sufferer is already old and senile, he's lived a good life already". The victim isn't the only one to suffer. The victims have families, families who would do anything to watch his/her love one's mental state depleting everyday. This disease doesn't only have financial impact. It also has very strong emotional impact on society.

Now, we come to funding of the disease. The governments in many countries are taking a "who really cares" attitude towards the situation. Do you know how much the UK Government spends a year on Alzheimer Funding? 1000 million? 10 billion? No. 0. The only source of finance comes from donations, and around 40 million pounds is donated every year. What? That's barely enough to set up equipment. And the US government? They spend 500 million dollars on research. That might sound a lot until you compare it to the 6 billion spent on cancer research. That's not alot when Alzheimer kills more people every year than the number killed by Breast and Prostate Cancer.

This is a disease that needs more attention and funding than what its getting at the moment. This is a disease that needs to be taken seriously by governments around the world.