Alzheimer's research making progress but needs more funding

Alzheimer's currently afflicts about 5 million Americans, and as baby boomers age, the number of people with Alzheimer's is expected to rise. The costs for caring for all those patients is expected to rise too.

That's part of what led Congress to create the National Alzheimers Project Act in 2010. The project's goal is to come up with ways to prevent and treat Alzheimer's by 2025.

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Mayo Clinic neurologist Ronald Petersen, who heads up of the Advisory Council created by the act. He's in Washington, D.C. today to testify before the Senate Special Committee on Aging about the work that's been done so far.

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