Conversations with Greg O'Brien

“Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things”—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 63 BC Having spent an extensive career in newspapering, there’s an old axiom in the media: if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will tell it for you. So here’s our story in summary. From a perspective of those living with dementia, we’re best to tell it. I stand before you today as a humble messenger. As a person living with Alzheimer’s, one whose family tree has been shaken horribly by this disease, I can tell you with great assurance that the most accurate perspective on dementia

African Americans are more likely than whites to develop Alzheimer’s. Why?

This June 1, 2017, Washington Post article by Marita Golden focuses on the shocking disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s on communities of color, specifically African Americans. Older African Americans develop Alzheimer's at a higher rate than any other group of older Americans, and are about twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop it or other forms of dementia. George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder, says, “When Trish and I started UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, we wanted to start a movement, a mobilization to find out why women, blacks and Latinos are disproportionately affected.” African Americans are nearly invisible in clinical Alzheimer's trials, accounting for only