Cognition Therapeutics: Undaunted Warrior in the Battle Against Alzheimer’s

While the “War on Cancer” has made significant progress, the “War on Alzheimer’s” has proven to be a seemingly implacable foe. The societal costs of neurodegenerative diseases are enormous – Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cognitive dementia, affecting one of every ten people over age 65 and nearly 35% over age 85. This translates into more than 5.4 million Alzheimer’s patients in the US alone, a number expected to reach 9 million by 2030 and 16 million by 2050 as the US population ages. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the US and is the only leading cause of death currently without a way to prevent, cure or slow the disease (of the top 10 leading causes). As many as 25 million people worldwide are afflicted with less severe memory impairment known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which manifests several years before an actual clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can be made. Patients suffering in the later stages of this disease require nearly full-time care; in the US alone, the economic burden of Alzheimer’s is currently estimated to be in excess of $110 billion annually.