Author and advocate Dan Gasby joins the American Brain Foundation (ABF) Board to raise awareness of the racial disparities that exist between African Americans and Non-Hispanic whites when it comes to the diagnosis, treatment, and research of brain disease.
“Brain Health is the greatest 21st Century civil rights issue,” Gasby suggests in a media release from the American Brain Foundation. “When you lose your cognitive ability, your rights as a human being are greatly diminished.”
Gasby authored the memoir Before I Forget with his wife, B. Smith—a celebrity chef, supermodel, and lifestyle maven—who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2013.
According to Gasby, African Americans are twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop late onset Alzheimer’s and less likely to be diagnosed with the condition, which often results in little time for treatment and planning.
“Our brain health is often directly tied to our socioeconomic status. We need more funding, more awareness and more compassion for the more than 50 million Americans afflicted with brain diseases,” Gasby adds in the release.
The ABF Board includes neurologists, a former NFL Super Bowl champion, Vice President Walter Mondale, and Susan Schneider Williams, widow of Robin Williams.
[Source: American Brain Foundation]
