having Worked in Long Term Care and Had a Grandmother who fell victim to this most debilitating disease, I 've seen first hand the effects it has Not only on the patient but their family.
I have No doubt this disease is directly related to envirnomental Pollutants. It's number increase dramatically every year.Soem will say 'just better diaganostic Techniques and Redefinitions' I say Bullshit!
My Dear Strong minded and willed Grandmother Told me decades ago "red wine is good fro your Blood'- within th elast 10 yrs- and Countless dollars later science has proved her Right.Some things science doe not need to Prove to be true, and mosre often they fail to look for obvious answers becasue they are caught up in what will make profits for them - what Pill can they sell to US.main Reason marijuana is Still Illegal- too easy for people to grow their Own, so the Pharms block any attempts to even allow it for Dying patients- A Crime Against Humantiy!In fact I just read that Pot and Tabacco may actually ward off mental deterioration.
I have in my Genetic makeup ,'Alzheimers',Stroke,Cancer and massive Cardiac Arrest- I'm hedging my Bet, I still smoke. i jsut pray its the 'Big One',But will accept the other Two if it is to be so...Anything but Alzheimers.I hope to be able to remember my Memories, Die with Dignity and spare my family the long painful process of my slow steady decline in to the perpetual state of 'Not ME' anymore.

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but reduced life expectancies brought about by drastically lower standards of living in industrialized nations will pre-empt a good deal of this. Keeping ourselves alive (food and shelter) will take precedence over quality of life issues in a world without cheap energy and beset by environmental disasters.

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I'm a neurobiologist. We work with rats. I know it's not PC. But ferns don't have brains, ferns don't get cancer, ferns don't get AIDS or break their spinal cords.

If a fern cannot get the disease, the research to cure that disease will involve animals. Just keeping it real.

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While it is true that dementia in any number of forms may inflict itself on individuals of any age, most of the victims are found among the elderly, the fastest growing segment of the American population. While the effects of demetia are horrible and dangerous for its victim, the toll taken on care givers, professional and familial, is also terrible. The search for a cure or, at least, a method of treatment, began decades ago. However, very little has been done to provide funding or support services for those who bear the burden of caring for those who cannot care for themselves. It is in this area that the presidential candidates and their parties could be most useful in the immediate future. How will Obama's health plan impact the care of dementia victims? Is McCain willing to concede that "market forces" are unlikely to assist those who are looking after a rapidly declining parent or spouse? Barring a "miracle" in the research lab that seems ever more unlikely, what will the next president do to deal with this grave problem? America deserves to know.

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