Jonathan Graff-Radford, MD: Efforts to Reduce Rates of Alzheimer Disease Dementia

"There’s a lot as a community and society that we can do to work towards lowering dementia rates worldwide.”

Alzheimer disease (AD) continues to be among the fastest growing neurological diseases in the world, affecting nearly 50 million people worldwide and over 5 million Americans each year. September 21, 2020, marks World Alzheimer’s Day, a day dedicated to those who are impacted each year by the disease.

Social movement days such as World Alzheimer’s Day have acted as a platform for those within the community to have their voice heard, whether that be from a patient or clinician perspective. Jonathan Graff-Radford, MD, neurologist at Mayo Clinic, feels as though the day provides a voice for some of the more underrepresented populations of AD, including the quarter of a million Americans with the disease who are under the age of 65 years.

Graff-Radford sat down with NeurologyLive to provide context on why the day is so special as well as why raising awareness may lead to greater incorporated prevention strategies for patients.