Recent decades have seen an extraordinary shift in our expectations when we are confronted with what once were terminal illnesses.

With access to quality healthcare, HIV can now be managed for decades and many forms of cancer that were once death sentences are now treatable.

I decided to write this letter after seeing an Alzheimer's Association-produced video that challenged viewers to realize that, with the dedication and resources that have successfully turned the tables on other previously terminal illnesses, the first Alzheimer's disease survivor could be alive right now.