Every year during the month of June the United States has the opportunity to bring awareness to Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness. Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disease and the most common type of dementia. According to the Alzheimer's Association, 5 million American's suffer from this horrible disease and with our population aging by the day, we have a difficult road ahead of us.
Last Thursday we were fortunate to attend an Alzheimer's Awareness Education Series at the University of Mississippi Medical Center's MIND Center in Jackson, MS. This informative series was led by Thomas H.Mosley, PhD. Mississippians traveled from across the state to hear about the latest Alzheimer's developments, cures and collaboration with the Mayo Clinic. To help bring additional exposure and awareness to this dreadful disease, the MIND Center team scheduled this session on the longest day of the year to highlight the challenges caregivers, families and Alzheimer's patients deal with during their difficult journey. Just in the state of Mississippi, Alzheimer's affects 53,000 people.
Over time Alzheimer's attacks the brain with a vengeance. At the moment, with our aging population and a record number of baby boomers turning 65, our federal, state and local community leaders need to come together to join in the fight. Statistics shows Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and one in eight baby boomer are projected to develop the disease. Those numbers are staggering, but by 2050 those numbers are expected to triple.
What can you do to help get the word out and bring additional awareness to this terrible disease that affects so many Americans? Our older American's deserve a little extra support, so let's get creative! You can simply wear the color purple to help bring awareness, turn your Facebook page purple or share a story about why you go purple and use the hashtag #EndAlz.
Last November, we wrote a blog article about the power of social media sharing and how it can bring awareness to the Alzheimer's disease. One of the creative ideas by the Alzheimer's Association helps prove our point. If 5000 people share the Alzheimer's story on Facebook and 3 of their friends share it, the Alzheimer's Awareness campaign can touch over 5 Million people.
If you need a little extra motivation, just remember Alzheimer's is the fastest growing disease in the United States and there is no way to prevent it or stop it at this point. As reported recently in The Hill, Alzheimer's costs America $277 billion annually and is projected to hit the $1 trillion mark by 2050. We are grateful for Congress allocating a 30% increase in the budget for Alzheimer's research earlier this year. Congress and our professionals are working diligently to help us win this battle, but we have a long way to go. In the meantime, let's continue doing our part to bring awareness.