alzheimer's. alzheimer's. a word that brings fear and trauma to families all across america and indeed around the world. tonight we're going to spend our time talking about this dreaded disease, for which there is no known cure and which always ends in death. i'd like now to turn to my colleagues, this being a bipartisan special order hour unusual, to be sure, but absolutely appropriate, given the fact that this illness affects virtually every american family. i'd like now to turn to mr. goodlatte, our colleague from virginia. mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentleman from california for organizing this special order for one hour to talk about the blight that we face here in america and i'm sure in many other countries around the world, known as alzheimer's. and i note the flier that the gentleman sent around, a beautiful picture of he and his wife, patty garamendi, and some other family members, one of whom i'm sure has had this difficulty themselves. so, again, from the bottom of my heart and my constituents, i t

you picture end stage alzheimer's. what does living with alzheimer's look like, and for writing this book, i wanted to understand the perspective of alzheimer's from the very first symptoms and for the people i came to know when i was doing research for the book were people living with early onset alzheimer's who could describe what it feels like from the very first oh, where did i put my keys, and they were in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and they're not included in what gets talked about when people talk about alzheimer's. and so i was hoping to give living with alzheimer's a face and a voice. >> and, of course the drama of that is just... >> and it raises the stakes. we all place so much worth and identity in what we do for a living, and if that gets stripped away, if you're someone like alice and you've put all of your worth in thinking and you can't do that because of alzheimer's, because it robs you of memory and cognition and language, then who are you and how do you matter? >> reporter: this is a short clip of alice

and his father started showing signs of alzheimer's disease. forensic scientists wanted to learn whether this was bad luck, bad genes or something else. dripping springs, texas, a town where you can enjoy the beauty of the texas hill country. yet commute to downtown austin in just over half an hour. melin melinda ballard fell in love with dripping springs and bought these acres. in 1994 she met ron allison. after dating for less than a year, the couple married. >> well, he was everything i had ever wanted in a man. very intelligent, a real go-getter. a workaholic, so we seemed to match up in that regard. just a super guy. >> we both had had the same interests. we both wanted to have a family. i think that was the key. career-wise, but similar interests. >> melinda had been head of her own public relations business, a firm she sold in 1989 but she still continued her career. >> i sat as a board member of a bank and still represent a number of clients that are -- i guess holdovers from my company in new york. >> ron worked in investment banks and

against alzheimer's the leaders engaged on alzheimer's disease or the lead coalition and the alzheimer's foundation of america. i would ask unanimous consent that the letters from these organizations be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. colorado -- ms. collins: mr. president, we have to face the facts that if we do not invest in alzheimer's research, at the levels that the experts tell us is necessary to develop effective treatments for this disease, perhaps a means of prevention or eventually a cure, this disease is going to continue to cause untold suffering, not only for its victims but for its families. ms. collins: and it will bankrupt america's health care system. i urge our colleagues to join us as cosponsors, and i want in particular to recognize my partner in this effort, the senator from minnesota senator klobuchar. the home of the may owe -- mayo clinic is in her state and she has been stalwart in supporting the efforts to increase funding for alzheimer's research. with that, mr. president i'm very pleased to yield to my partner, senator kl

i have a history in my family of alzheimer disease,.h the similar thing. i don't know if you have had that experience. >> could no, i have been very luck aye and i haven't had any personal experience with alzheimer and because i hadn't i didn't know anything about it are o the behaviors. i said i didn't want to do anything on screen that i hadn't personally witnessed. so i actually wanted to do a lot of research. and they were so generous with their time, and their experience. and all the women i spoke to were really articulate and very precise about what how they felt. i would ask them how does this feel. what happens when this happens. and when did it first manifest. and everybody was really very helpful. so everything i do in the movie i actually i saw or was explained. >> jon: there is one particular moment there is a sense when someone is going through that they get to a place where they are not, it is not a cognitive point but they come back. and then you see in their eyes it's terrifying. >> yes, and one of the things that i hear

>> i have alzheimer's disease. early-onset. i can see the words hanging in front of me and i cannot reach them and i don't know who i am. i don't know what i'm going to lose next. millennium, hedgehog. i would like to see you go to college. >> you cannot use this situation to get me to do everything. it's not fair. >> i don't have to be fair. i'm your mother. >> we have to keep the important things in our life going. we have to try or we are going to go crazy. >> it might be the last part of myself. >> please don't say that. >> i am not suffering. i'm struggling. struggling to be a part of things. stay connected. to live in the moment is really all i can do. live in the moment. >> i spoke with julianne moore earlier this year in new york. here is that conversation. there is a lot of buzz about this film. you went to toronto with the film. all of a sudden, there was no distributor and now there is because there was a sense of -- that this was a really special role and it was the right actress at the right time for the right char

in fact, 2 out of every 3 people who will have alzheimer's is a woman.only are they the most likely to be in fact diagnosed with alzheimer's, typically are the caregivers. and when you look at the research that's being done, it's miniscule in reference to cancer research. and when you look at the federal government and how much is being spent to provide health care through medicare, it's something like $200 billion a year. by 2050, it's going to be over $1 trillion a year just for alzheimer's care. so we've got to put more money into research so we can find a cure to alzheimer's. >> the conference is something you founded 26 years ago. you're not even old enough to >> okay.nded that. >> it's so amazing. i've had the great privilege of being there for so many years. why did you feel the need to do that? >> well, first of all, thank you for being such a great supporter or sponsor of this. i did it because i thought a woman needs a place to mnetwork to find new career goals. women will come up to all of us, so many -- everyone on the board is doing it out o

stay tuned. [ cheers and applause ] wvo: caring for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his guardian. i am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, like aricept®, it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about any medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body... and may increase side effects. the most common side effects... are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. wvo: all my life, he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding... o

wvo: caring for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his guardian.ice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, like aricept® it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about any medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body... and may increase side effects. the most common side effects... are headache, diarrhea and dizziness. wvo: all my life he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding... once-daily namenda xr. >>> next tonigh

this is the first time experts have identified a way to stop the process of alzheimer's in its tracks. scientists say this could lead to finding a possible treatment for the disease. >>> symptoms of menopause may last longer than previously thought. hot flashes and night sweats typically affect women an average of seven years. for some up to 14 years. the study in the journal of the american medical association says it varies among ethnic groups. african-american women experience symptoms an average of 10 years then nine years for hispanic, six and a half for caucasian, five and a half for asian women. >>> what's in your refrigerator may say a lot about your love life. tonight at 11:00, we take a closer look at what your fridge says about you and your compatibility with possible dates. we turn up the heat on love at 11:00 tonight. >>> just ahead, bragging rights for every oscar presented. >> who's in >>> i'm ama deitz, a fairway fight, tonight. and also the bay area's oldest formal wear business is minutes away from closing for good. we report on the scramble for employees and custome

you can contact the alzheimer's association. we have a 24 hour help line 800-82-3900. a loved one, looking for resources or someone who want to talk. >> tim, thanks for coming in. >> thanks for telling your story. >> i appreciate it, thank you wow. >> all right. what time is it. >> 8:23. >> take a break we will be >> 8:23. >> take a break we will be right back good infor brookside chocolate now has a crunch. brookside crunchy clusters - crispy multi-grains and sweet fruit-flavored pieces dipped in rich dark chocolate. discover brookside crunchy clusters. it gives you options based on your budget -- it's a piece of cake. i was told there would be cake. get a free quote at progressive.com. >>> bob dylan, old footage of bob. he is set to receive a special award tonight. he will be honored as 2015 music cares, person of the year. as we get closer to the grammys. they will hold a special benefit dinner and tribute concert for bob later tonight. some of the big performers, at this event, willie nelson, john melon camp, eddie vetter, neil young will be there. grammys just a c

shouldn't the federal government be coordinating a plan on alzheimer's? >> in terms of the issue of coordination, there is a body and advisory group that includes both people from the federal government as well as external folks to be a part of putting together our thoughts and strategies, and it formed the way we are doing investments. there are things across the government as well as external bodies. with regard to the work at the department, the work cuts across a number of arias. nih and research is generally what comes to mind for most people. but where the biggest dollars are spent is actually in cms and make being sureing sure that we're thinking through. the other is the community living, where we look at caregivers and those going through the process of dementia and how they deal with it. as a department we work through all of those. there is this overall advisory group that we have internally and includes internal members. >> the population is aging rapidly, obviously and alzheimer's is taking a much bigger role on families, on health care syste

wvo: caring for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his guardian. am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, like aricept® it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about any medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body... and may increase side effects. the most common side effects... are headache, diarrhea and dizziness. wvo: all my life he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding... once-daily namenda xr. >>> a

with alzheimer's.thing not new to me because my father suffered from it as well. >> reporter: paul already has trouble remembering simple things like the day of the week so every day his wife goes over the schedule. >> today is monday, today at 1:30, we go to brentwood presbyterian. >> reporter: they have found new ways to communicate and his music is a big part of that. >> it has always been a part of paul's life but i think it became a language for him and i think he could express himself emotionally with his music in ways that was satisfying to the deepest parts of himself. and for those who have ears to hear, they hear what he's saying. >> reporter: so they looked around for others who had ears to hear. >> the unstated part of it is you need to be around people, and going into isolation because you're ashamed or worried you're going to be made a fool of is not only not fruitful but it's silly. >> reporter: when maureen heard about an unusual group of musicians who get together to jam twice a week s

alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his guardian. i am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr® to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, like aricept®, it may improve overall function... and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. (man) namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body... and may increase side effects. the most common side effects... are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. (woman) all my life, he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding... once-daily namenda xr. meet thsu

so soon after my father was indeed diagnosed with alzheimer's. and my family gathered together again to talk about what we could do to support him through it. we talked of all kinds of options, eventually they should move out of the house, eventually they should move in with one of us maybe maybe what should we do? but the truth is none of it seemed very urgent at that time. so we kind of knew we needed to figure it out but my parents could really take care of themselves and manage it on their own. so about a year ago i was home for an extended visit and while i was home i noticed this crack in the wall of like an entryway in our house. and i said mom did you see this crack? she's like oh actually i didn't see it. she been so preoccupied with my father's health and his needs that she just didn't notice the crack in the wall. so i asked mom can i help with this quick she said no, no, no. of which is called the repair guy. it will totally be okay. so it was going to be okay. so then this past summer our family gathered again, because we gather to c

one year later, a telephone call changed that. ng for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his guardian. i am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr® to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, like aricept®, it may improve overall function... and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. (man) namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body... and may increase side effects. the most common side effects... are headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. (woman) all my life, he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding

. >>> where people in our area could take part in a study for alzheimer's drugs. >>> big news for blue cross broad street run. how runners and nbc10 will work together to make history. >>> on this cold tuesday night, let's take a live look here at 76th and vine street where it looks like traffic is moving along pretty well here. chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz will bring you his full forecast coming up in a few minutes. >>> take a look at this. a layer of ice and snow covering the service of the delaware river. sky force 10 over the water near the betsy ross bridge. coast guard crews were breaking up some of that ice today. they say the water is flowing underneath. tonight a warning from thoerlts in south jersey. they're telling kids who want to step onto frozen lakes to ice skate or play hockey be careful out there. despite below freezing temperatures for several days in a row, not all area lakes are frozen solid. medford police have stepped up patrols to check on kids. >>> sky force 10 back over an ice-coated building in west philly are where there are growing concerns

three years after coaching legend pat summit retired because of alzheimer's, another summit steps on and steps up on the court. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. >>> good evening, parts of new england are staggering from the punishing blow of another blizzard. the fourth major snowstorm in three weeks. this one leaving as much as 20 inches of snow in some places. enough fell to make this the snowiest month on record in the city of boston where there is plenty to shovel, just no good place to put it. snow driven by gusty winds caused whiteout conditions, collapsed roofs and paralyzed travel. now the arctic cold, dangerous below zero windchills, extend from the midwest across much of the northeast. our team remains in place, in the storm zone. miguel almaguer leads us off tonight from boston. miguel? >> reporter: lester, good evening. this is what many boston neighborhoods look like tonight. snow piles are on every street corner in this city. to give you some perspective, this one is 15, 20 feet in the air, at the level of stree

>> it's commensurate with the annual memory screening day that alzheimer's foundation has and it usually occurs in november of every year. november -- planning for november last year was ambitious for us so we piloted it for the month of january so we hope this year we can sync it as part of the national memory screening throughout the united states when everyone is doing this on a volunteers' effort and concert with the alzheimer's foundation. >> oh okay. >> we can send you more in terms of their website and that's who we collaborate with. >> very good. >> any other questions for the director at this point? if not we can go on to the next item. >> thank you. >> item four is general public comment. >> we do have one general public comment. mr. michael petrellis again. >> please give me a head's up when it's two minutes 30 seconds. first of all i am really glad that barbara you put these meetings on tv in the last year. it's terrific to watch the meetings with video on demand and you can go to the part you want to watch. i mean you probably think every part of the meeting is really intere

julianne moore won best actress for playing a professor with early onset alzheimer's. and best actor when to britain's eddie redmayne. from hollywood, here's more on redmayne's glittering night. >> eddie redmayne arrived, telling everybody he hoped to win an oscar. and then he went inside and found out he had. >> the oscar goes to eddie redmayne! [applause] >> i am fully aware that i am a lucky, lucky man. um... this oscar -- oh! >> is going to change things. >> now eddie redmayne is going to get offered superhero scripts. we'll see if he can stand firm and say no to the ones he doesn't want to do. here's where the hardest part of his career is. he's going to have to say no to a lot of things. >> the universe is expanding. >> the oscar did not come easy. it was a role that required meticulous research and a physical transformation. >> i spent four months if london met many people, their families. not only them but, of course, the hawkings' family. >> stephen hawking was delighted with the actor's win. he said, well, done, eddie. i'm very proud of you. the night was als

so soon after my father was indeed diagnosed with alzheimer's. my family gathered together again to talk about what we could do to support him. because about all kinds of options. eventually they should move out of their house. eventually they should move in with one of us and what should we do. the truth of it was nothing seemed urgent at the time. we knew we needed to figure it out but my parents could take care of themselves and manage it on their own. so about a year ago i was home for an extended visit and while i was home i noticed this crack in the wall of and entryway in our house. i said mom did you see this crack? she was like oh i actually didn't see it. she had been so preoccupied with my father's health and his needs that she didn't notice this crack in the wall. so i asked her mom, do you need me to do anything? can i help with this? she said no, no no i will call the repair guy that will totally be okay so was going to be okay. this past summer our family gathered again because we gathered to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniv

three years after alzheimer's forced her to retire. team's fiercest rivals is being led by someone with a familiar last name. here's jacob rascon. >> reporter: she may not be much older than his players, on the sidelines, tyler summit feels right at home. >> instead of growing up and slumber parties at your friend's house, i was in locker rooms, hotel rooms, i was on the bench. >> reporter: such was the life of the only child of college basketball legend pat summit. >> all the public saw was this lady on the sideline who looked like a dictator screaming at her players and staring them down. behind closed doors, she was a loving caring person. >> reporter: for most of pat's 1100 wins and eight national championships, tyler was right there. until three years ago, when pat stepped down nacing a new opponent. >> it was a hard couple days when she got diagnosed with alzheimer's, and at first she said why me? and it took a while for us to say, you know what this is god's plan and we have to figure out what our next step is. >> reporter: in 2

wvo: caring for someone with alzheimer's means i am a lot of things. i am his guardian. i am his voice. so i asked about adding once-daily namenda xr to his current treatment for moderate to severe alzheimer's. it works differently. when added to another alzheimer's treatment, like aricept® it may improve overall function and cognition. and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. vo: namenda xr doesn't change how the disease progresses. it shouldn't be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or who's had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about any medications they're taking. certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body... and may increase side effects. the most common side effects... are headache, diarrhea and dizziness. wvo: all my life he's protected me. now i am giving back. ask their doctor about adding... once-daily namenda xr. you