Harry Johns, national president and chief executive officer of the Alzheimer's Association, paid a recent visit to the Natural State on behalf of the association's Arkansas chapter. "State of Alzheimer's: A Critical Issue Across the Nation," a reception highlighted by a speech by Johns, was held June 1 at the Country Club of Little Rock.
Attendees were welcomed by association advocate Phil Schmidt. Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin -- who spoke briefly of his grandmother's struggle with Alzheimer's years ago -- introduced Johns, who began his talk by pointing out that advancements in treatment of any disease have come from increased awareness.
"If you look at any other ... health issue in America -- until we had a nationwide discussion about it, we didn't really see a change," he said. "If you think about it, whether it was cancer or heart disease or HIV/AIDS, once we had a nationwide discussion about the issue, and people cared enough to talk about it, things began to change" -- for example, federal funding increases for research.
"We have raised the discussion about Alzheimer's and dementia dramatically ... but we still have a distance to go," Johns continued, adding that only half the people who have Alzheimer's are diagnosed. And only half of them are told when they're diagnosed. But "I believe we can turn this around. ... On the research fronts there are exciting things happening."
Brief remarks were also offered by Sue Griffin, the Alexa and William T. Dillard professor and vice chairman of research in the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
High Profile on 06/12/2016