Hi, it's Diane. On my mind, Alzheimer's disease. Nearly seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million.

For years, research into the disease remained underfunded.

And patients who received a diagnosis had few options when it came to treatment.

But in recent years, that's begun to change.

There are exciting developments in the research field

at each stage of our lives

that affect the strength of our brain

and the ability of the brain to resist brain challenges.

George Friedenberg is chairman of the nonprofit

Us Against Alzheimer's, which he co-founded in October 2010 with his

late wife, Trish. He's a dear friend. I invited him to join me for a conversation about his hopes and

fears for what comes next for Alzheimer's research.

George Friedenberg, let's start with some statistics.

How many Americans have Alzheimer's that we know?

The estimate is about 7 million have diagnosed dementia.

Another double number of that, so perhaps 15 million, have mild cognitive impairment.

And another 40 million have the pathology of the disease but no symptoms.

Wow. How old are they normally?

The average age of symptomatic onset is 70 to 75.

And are certain groups more susceptible than others?

Yes, women are twice as likely to have this disease as men, not just based on the fact that they live longer, but for reasons we don't yet fully understand.

Blacks are about twice as likely as whites, and Latino Americans are about one and a half times as likely to have the disease as non-Latino whites.

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