The following editorial appeared in New Jersey's largest paper, the Newark Star Ledger:

    President Obama is expected to sign a bill that will jump-start a national campaign against Alzheimer’s disease. It’s good news for patients and families struggling with the emotional and financial burden of the disease. The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Chris Smith (R-5th Dist.) and Edward Markey (D- Mass.), drew unanimous support in the House for the establishment of the National Alzheimer’s Project within the federal health and human services department. Most important, it signals the kind of focus and resolve directed toward cancer and AIDS, which led to advances in research and treatment.

    Everyone knows there’s a looming crisis: Our aging society is taxing families, health care institutions and programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Alzheimer’s, the most common type of dementia, strikes mostly the elderly, robbing them of memory and diminishing overall intellectual abilities. It is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. The most recent report by the Alzheimer’s Association estimates 5.3 million Americans are afflicted, with a cost to Medicare and Medicaid of $172 billion — and growing.

    The National Alzheimer’s Project charges an advisory council with creating a national plan coordinating research and treatment. The council also will examine the cost and effectiveness of institutional and community-based care, including caregiving by family members.

    Family caregivers — usually a daughter, but increasingly sons and friends — contribute nonpaid care valued at $144 billion. Grace Ann Kelly, a geriatric specialist, facilitates a caregivers support group at ParkCrescent Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in East Orange, where she observes firsthand the toll on the sick and those who care for them. Three-quarters of the center’s 190 residents are suffering from Alzheimer’s or have had a diagnosis of dementia. Clients in the early stages of the disease are fearful.

    “They’ve had rich lives, and they know something is going on,” Kelly said. Many families try to take care of their loved one at home, at great cost to their finances and health. “It’s quite devastating for caregivers, and it envelops the whole life of families.” 

    The National Alzheimer’s Project is the beginning of a long journey that promises relief for Alzheimer’s patients and their families.