Alzheimer’s impact is a societal and economic issue, health advocate says

* This article originally appeared on Cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Alzheimer’s disease afflicts nearly 6 million people in the United States, and sadly affects the many more millions of people who love them. Yet the chairman and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s believes that most people -- especially those who could help make a difference -- don’t grasp the overall scope and impact of the brain disorder, which progressively destroys thinking and memory skills. “Political leaders here and abroad are not responding at the scope and scale needed to beat back this disease,” says George Vradenburg, an Oberlin College graduate who, with