Battling Alzheimer's

Forbes magazine has an interesting article about efforts to fine a cure for and treat Alzheimer's disease. The main points are:
- Bill Gates recently vowed to donate more than $50 million to fund Alzheimer’s research.
- Gates and the Rand Corporation both say that due to the aging of the population, the population of Alzheimer’s patients is growing so rapidly the healthcare system isn’t equipped to handle it.
- Some drug companies such as Biogen and Merck are working on cures. Biogen has a drug undergoing Phase 3 clinical testing expected to be complete in late 2019. Ditto for Merck except 2020. This page describes the different phases of clinical testing (Step 4 section).
- A PET scan is required to diagnose whether or not a person has Alzheimer's. The current supply of PET scan machines and geriatricians capable of diagnosing the results are low compared to the number of people who could be suspected of having Alzheimer's in the next 20 years or so. Thus Gates' and the Rand Corporation's concern about demand much greater than supply.
- The notion that amyloid is the main culprit in Alzheimer’s has come under question recently. Gates will support efforts to look beyond amyloid, investing his money in the Dementia Discovery Fund, which seeds companies pursuing much different theories about what drives the disease.

Still, there are other forms of dementia. Wikipedia says that Alzheimer's is the most common form, being 50-70% of the cases. Dementia also appears in late stages of Parkinson's disease. Forecasts of the number of people with Parkinson's disease also are high. Science Daily reports that new research shows that the number will soon grow to pandemic proportions.