Bill Gates wants to add a new element to routine medical care for Americans over 60: blood tests that determine whether a patient has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and, as such, are offered preventive medications.
The Microsoft founder is heavily involved in disease prevention programs around the world, efforts that are likely to intensify in the coming years after he issued his charitable foundation with a mission: He will donate the vast majority of his fortune, about $100 billion, to the organization as long as the money is spent within the next 20 years.
The money, which will total nearly $200 billion between current endowments and projected growth, will focus on treating preventable diseases, one of which Gates hopes is Alzheimer’s. The tech giant’s father, Bill Gates Sr., died in 2020 at the age of 94, after battling the same Alzheimer’s disease.
Gates has a unique perspective on how to treat a disease like Alzheimer’s — a progressive brain disorder that leads to decreased memory and skills — not only as someone whose family has been affected by the disease, but also as a public figure with the ears of policy and decision-makers around the world.
He said that from the United States’ point of view, both economically and socially, treating a disease like Alzheimer’s not only reduces pressure on families, but also on the welfare state.
“When you have an aging society, you have a lot of these chronic diseases that can be a huge drain on resources,” Gates said. CBS Sunday Morning In a clip broadcast yesterday. Going forward, wealthier and older countries will see a shift from acute medical problems to chronic diseases. “So, going after a small number of diseases, where Alzheimer’s is fairly number one, the necessity is very clear,” he added.
As part of his work, Gates supports organizations working to develop blood-based diagnostic tests Which identifies a specific protein called amyloids, which can be markers of disease progression.
Gates added that ideally, patients will be cured of the disease before they start showing symptoms. When asked whether Alzheimer’s testing should be integrated into broader health screenings, Gates responded: “For the general population, maybe once you get to age 60 or so, that should be part of routine blood testing. It’s a fairly inexpensive test, and so if these tools prove successful and we get the side effects down, it will become routine that if you test for high amyloid in your blood, you’ll be insured for those drugs.”
He added that such a medication could be in the form of self-injection or infusion “to prevent you from getting Alzheimer’s disease.” However, there are still “a few steps yet to be reached,” he added.
Working in your 90s
With populations being healthier for longer, there also comes the benefit of having a larger workforce. Nowadays, policymakers are grappling with the care and cost of aging populations, without the same number of workers to replace them due to declining birth rates.
But Gates believes that thanks to prevention, people can work longer if they want to. This would also help rebalance the pressure on the workforce needed to support the economy through increased care costs.
He added that some people might question such ideas: “A lot of people look at some trends in society and become a bit negative. And I say to them: ‘What about a society where we can prevent almost all cases of Alzheimer’s, and in the 70s and 80s, even if you’re lucky in the 90s, you’re just as capable as a grandfather or if you want to keep working.’”
“They’re a little skeptical that something like this would happen,” he continued. “They’ve seen progress in heart disease, they’ve seen progress in cancer, but in those years, as well as in the next 10 years, we’re going to get a lot better. And so it’s possible that, like wow, this could be a very positive thing.”
The post Microsoft founder Bill Gates pushes for Alzheimer’s screening in routine health exams first appeared on Investorempires.com.
