Students Demand Presidential Candidates 'Make Alzheimer's the Nation's Top Health Priority'

The Youth Movement Against Alzheimer's (YMAA) is a grassroots student campaign that recently marched on the nation's capital to urge Democratic presidential hopefuls to prioritize Alzheimer's above all other U.S. health issues, reports Forbes . The YMAA petition demanded that candidates as well as Congress invest in better care by boosting support and resources for family caregivers, hike federal funding for Alzheimer's research, and tap volunteers to combat ageism and promote healthy aging. Other demands include easing caregivers' burden by advancing economic and workforce policies that relieve economic hardship, and promoting early and accurate Alzheimer's diagnosis by encouraging early evaluation, proactive brain health across the lifespan, and better access to diagnostic tools among health providers. "We wanted to urge presidential candidates to speak more on Alzheimer's disease during the debates," said YMAA founder Nihal Satyadev. The group's online petition collected some 1,200 signatures to U.S. Senate presidential candidates. Satyadev warned Alzheimer's will eventually bankrupt the U.S. healthcare system unless changes are made.