Thankful to Doggett for Alzheimer’s support

While nearly everyone is likely to be familiar with Alzheimer’s disease because of its skyrocketing prevalence, many people don’t realize that it disproportionately affects older Black and Hispanic Americans versus older Whites. Black Americans are two to three times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, and Hispanic Americans are one to two times more likely to develop the disease. 

Despite being more likely to have the disease, decades of Alzheimer’s research has not included sufficient numbers of African Americans or Hispanics — not to mention Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans — to be representative of the U.S. population. There is an urgent need for current and future research to include increased numbers of underrepresented populations in clinical trials to ensure everyone benefits from advances in Alzheimer’s science.