Dementia: A Silent Crisis That May Bankrupt America

Dementia sends us back to an elemental world of abject insecurity and frustration, where even the simplest things are difficult because they are unrecognizable. As Thomas DeBaggio, author and Alzheimer's patient wrote, it is "A malady of slow, writhing death, a secret torture in the head."

Eventually there is a descent into silence and dependence on caretakers. Hands other than yours change your diapers, feed and bathe you, at their convenience and on their terms. The terrified patient is often treated as a child. This stigmatizing degradation subjects patients to eviscerating daily humiliations.

No one should have to endure this but sadly, 40% of us who live past 80 will.