Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute

[2] President Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1994,[3] and released a letter to the American people announcing his affliction.

[4] His diagnosis and decision to go public with the news greatly affected the perception of Alzheimer's and reduced the stigma attached to the disease.

When the president became too incapacitated and could not function normally, Nancy Reagan began supporting federally funded embryonic stem cell research in the hopes that such research could lead to an Alzheimer's cure.

This number includes 4.9 million people age 65 and older, and at least 200,000 individuals younger than 65 with early-onset Alzheimer's.

A number of experimental therapies based on the amyloid hypothesis and other targets have reached various stages of clinical testing in human volunteers.