The AARP, UnitedHealth, and Quest Diagnostics Are Pouring $75 Million Into Fighting Alzheimer's and Dementia

The AARP, UnitedHealth Group, and Quest Diagnostics have announced a combined $75 million investment to fight Alzheimer's and other dementia-related diseases, reports Fortune . AARP contributed $60 million into the $350 million Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), as part of an effort to launch its own "Disrupt Dementia" campaign. Additional DDF partners include Bill Gates, the NFL Players Association, and various pharmaceutical companies such as Biogen, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, and Takeda. "Of the leading causes of death still around, Alzheimer's is the only one without a cure or treatment," notes Quest CEO Steve Rusckowski. AARP Chief Operating Officer Scott Frisch says this issue is especially important to his organization's membership of American seniors. "Of our 38 million members, so many say that staying mentally sharp is a top priority and top concern," he emphasizes. "Yet there is no known diagnosis, no single test you could have for Alzheimer's, dementia, etc." The DDF seeks to tackle this shortfall, which will partly entail trialling new ways of dealing with dementia-related disease, such as by looking for how to prevent it in the first place. A prevention-oriented model got a key boost in April when the Alzheimer's Association and the National Institute on Aging proposed a new framework focusing on that approach.