It is Getting Harder and Harder to be an Optimist

The recent announcement by Eli Lilly that a new drug intended to slow memory loss in people with Alzheimer's had failed a late-stage clinical trial felt like a punch in the gut. Look, I know that finding a treatment for dementia is a complex, Herculean task. But I was so sure that this time it was going to happen. And when it didn't, I knew the devastation that the thousands of people who volunteered for this clinical trial must have felt, as well as the dedicated Eli Lilly researchers and all those who'd devoted their time and energy to crushing this relentless killer. Despite this setback - because of it, really - I am more committed than ever to the fight against this disease. The experience of watching my mother die of Alzheimer's is seared in my memory. Losing a person you love so deeply and feeling so helpless to stop it makes you rage, cry, swear and, ultimately, become an advocate. That's when you can take some power back. Alzheimer's remains the third-leading cause of death in the United States, devastating millions of families and costing the nation $236 billion a year. Millions more are going to be affected as the baby boomers age. I'm a baby boomer, and I don't like the sound of that. The cold, hard reality remains that there is no treatment, prevention or cure. But there is good reason to keep up hope. There are promising innovations on the horizon. An analysis of the Phase II/III Alzheimer's drug pipeline, conducted by ResearchersAgainstAlzheimer's, shows ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news