Advocates for families touched by Alzheimer's Disease say they are making progress in fighting the illness.
But as Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports, they say there is more work to be done.
When Christina Lisotto’s late father developed early onset Alzheimer’s disease, her family slowly took on the responsibility of caring for him for years. At the end, hospice was helping out….and she says her family worked together as a team to make sure her Dad died with dignity.
Lisotto – As a family, we made a great team. We all put in more at times and less at others but we made it work. And I thank God each day that we were able to keep him at home.
Ken Strong, the head of the Alzheimer’s Association of Central Ohio, urges Ohio lawmakers to continue to make changes that will help provide better care for patients and more money for research. He says the efforts so far are paying off.
Strong – We’ve seen a tremendous amount of help. I wish we could provide more funding. Ohio State is doing their new brain stimulation program. We are seeing a lot of work done with a variety of medicines.
More than 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease….and more than 230 thousand of them live in Ohio.
