ICYMI: Senator Collins And WCSH’s Pat Callaghan Discuss Efforts To Defeat Alzheimer's Disease

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, spoke with WCSH’s Pat Callaghan this weekend following a Committee hearing on our nation’s fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

In her interview, Senator Collins noted:

“…Alzheimer’s has become our nation’s costliest disease. We are spending an astonishing $226 billion a year as a society caring for people with Alzheimer’s…If the current trajectory of this disease is not changed, it’s expected to consume a trillion dollars by the year 2050, not to mention the human suffering that it causes. Currently, we are only spending $600 million on research… Alzheimer’s is the only deadly disease in the top ten without a means of prevention, effective, treatments, or a cure....”

At last week’s hearing, Dr. Heidi Wierman, Division Director of Geriatrics at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, testified at the request of Senator Collins about the diagnosis and treatment of patients with dementia.

Also last week, Senator Collins introduced an amendment to Senate Budget Resolution that called for an increase in our federal investment in Alzheimer’s research. The amendment passed the Senate with bipartisan support. Senator Collins also recently authored a column on her work to combat Alzheimer’s disease.