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There was one other story that was picked up by reporters on all three networks on this busy day, although less deservedly. The publicity was generated by the Alzheimer's Association. It released an estimate that ten million members of the babyboom generation will eventually be afflicted by Alzheimer's Disease. ABC's John McKenzie filed a constructive report, noting that recent research on the benefits of exercise in laboratory mice found that a brisk workout several times a week produces a chemical that flushes dementia-causing plaque from the blood vessels of the brain. CBS' Sandra Hughes filed a misleading report on the strain on family members of Alzheimer's patients, calling a devastating case of a 51-year-old man with an eight-year-old daughter-turned-caregiver "an increasingly typical family." Typical? Most Alzheimer's patients are female; the vast majority are over 70 years old; almost none have eight-year-old children when diagnosed. NBC's Robert Bazell (at the tail of his Mind Matters videostream) was most level headed about the Alzheimer's Association press release: "It is no surprise. We have known these numbers for a long time." With Alzheimer's afflicting 42% of the population aged 85 and older, "this is the dark side of all our medical miracles that are allowing people to live longer."
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