I was exposed to the terrible effects of Alzheimer’s disease when the brother of a close friend of mine died recently at age 67 after a 10-year struggle with early onset Alzheimer’s.

This experience has opened my eyes to the importance of Alzheimer’s research, care planning for people following a diagnosis and hospice care for patients in the end stage of the disease.

Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in America, costing more than $236 billion in 2016, with over 5 million people suffering from this terrible disease and another 10 million people involved in their care. Since none of the care provided slows the disease’s progression, precious lives and scarce resources are simply vanishing.

Fellow Washingtonians who attended the recent Alzheimer’s Advocacy Forum in Washington, DC, however, tell us we are making progress in increasing annual funding for National Institutes of Health research on Alzheimer’s – currently just below $1 billion.

This is of crucial importance. The Senate Appropriations Committee has just approved a bill adding $400 million to that amount. The House of Representatives needs to do the same.

Dave Reichert, our District 8 representative in Congress, has been very supportive of Alzheimer’s legislation (www.alz.org/advocate). Please join me in thanking him for his past work and urge him to include this additional $400 million in Alzheimer’s research funding in the House legislation.

Also thank Congressman Reichert for cosponsoring a bill focusing on increasing the availability of palliative care and hospice providers. Contact the congressman at 22605 SE 56th Street, Issaquah 98029, or by phone at 877-920-9208.

Ken Geisen

Maple Valley