Fellow Washingtonians who attended the recent Alzheimer’s Advocacy Forum in Washington, DC, tell us it’s encouraging to know we are making progress in the fight against this disease and other dementias.

Having been an advocate for five years, I feel very strongly about the importance of Alzheimer’s research, care planning for people following an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and palliative and hospice care for patients in the end stage of dementia.

I care about this issue because my father Donald struggled against the disease for several years before his eventual death in 2004.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most expensive disease in America, costing more than $236 billion in 2016. Since none of the care provided slows the disease’s progression, precious lives and scarce resources are simply vanishing. To increase annual funding for National Institutes of Health research on Alzheimer’s – currently just below $1 billion – is a crucial investment. The Senate Appropriations Committee has just approved a bill adding $400 million to that figure. The House should do the same.

For those who have been diagnosed early, well informed financial, legal and medical planning drastically improves a dementia patient’s quality of life. For those in end stages, focusing on symptom management and reduction of pain and stress reduces unnecessary hospitalizations, sparing families trauma while saving public funds.

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. Maria Cantwell have been very supportive of Alzheimer’s legislation, which is outlined at www.alz.org/advocate. I thank them all and urge them to add $400 million for Alzheimer’s research and also to cosponsor H.R. 3119/S. 2748, which will increase the availability of palliative care and hospice providers.

Pete Minden, Kirkland