Bill Ritter talks to Maria Shriver about her Alzheimer's advocacy

[00:00:00]Maria Shriver, thank you so much for joining us. You have you have a remarkable career reporting, anchoring local and national TV, First Lady of New York. For all these purposes that you have you know, put into your life is just amazing. Um an author about Alzheimer's and you founded the Women's Alzheimer's Movement called and I want to make this right. It's just the WAM, is that how you pronounce it?

[00:00:25]>> That's correct. That's correct. Yeah.

[00:00:27]>> It's just incredible what you've made of your life. Um but tell us and tell our viewers why this became the focus of your life.

[00:00:36]>> Well, first of all, thank you uh Bill for having me. Thank you for talking to me about my work. I want to begin by just honoring your statement uh that you've made about your own diagnosis.

[00:00:47]And as I said before we got on here, I think it's a very courageous thing that you've done and I think you can have a tremendous impact uh on behalf of other people who are struggling with this disease, who might have shame about whether they can come forward, whether they should come forward. I think you can make a huge uh difference uh by just walking us through how your family handles this cuz there are so many millions of families dealing with this disease. I came to this disease, I think probably the same way you did. Uh my dad was diagnosed in 2003. Sargent Shriver uh was his name and he was the smartest, most creative human being I'd ever met.

[00:01:29]So to watch his brain kind of dissolve in real time, watch him not know who I was or who any of his other children were was a really mind-blowing experience. And so I started approaching this disease probably the same way you did, as a journalist, trying to understand it, what caused it, who had it, when does it begin? And the more that I learned about it, I realized many of the things that people were telling me were actually outdated, that the narrative needed to be updated, rewritten. And so I went about kind of looking at that. I partnered with the Alzheimer's Association and we rewrote the narrative to put women front and center because women are 2/3 of those with this disease. We rewrote the narrative to explain that Alzheimer's is something that happens in midlife.

[00:02:20]People always assumed that there was nothing you could do about Alzheimer's and it was just something that happened naturally when you got old. So we know a lot more today about Alzheimer's. We still don't have that magic bullet cure that I know would be so welcome for you and so many others. Um but we've made advances uh when we talk about lifestyle, when we talk about brain health, and um I'm really hopeful that with all this renewed interest and money we will find a cure in our lifetime.

[00:02:51]>> That's the entire questions I have and all of it is put in your little what you just said. And so let's let's piece that together a little bit cuz I have lots of questions about that and thank you for starting it. That's that's our whole our whole platform tonight with you. Um uh let's talk about your dad, uh Sargent Shriver, first director ever of the Peace Corps, Office of Economic Opportunity.

[00:03:14]Don't we need all that? There's no question. He focused on making life better for Americans and I know that was part of your family. That's what they got. Um diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003, died in 2011. He was 95 so he he had a good life no matter what, but it was not the life that he might have wanted or you wanted. Um tell tell us what it was like. And it was very different back then.

[00:03:38]>> Yes, it was very different. You know, people it was very shrouded I think in mystery, shrouded in shame. Uh I didn't really know anybody who had Alzheimer's.

[00:03:47]I knew Ronald Reagan uh had come forth about his uh Alzheimer's, but I didn't know anybody else. And as I said, when I started, you know, asking doctors about it, they explained to me it was a disease of tangles and plaque and tau and amyloid, and that it was really a disease of old age, and that really lifestyle was never mentioned, women were never mentioned, and the feeling was that you were powerless to do anything about it. You were just going to sit there and wait and see if you got it. And there's been a sea change in that, as I tried to say, in that narrative. We now know that 40 or 50% of the cases can be prevented, might be prevented and or delayed. We now know this is a disease of middle age. So, what we're doing in middle age is really critical, and that's really and critical for women as well.

[00:04:40]We know that you have control or have some control, I should say, over your brain health, and I'm really trying to focus in my advocacy on people focusing on their brain health. People today focus on their heart health, right?

[00:04:55]Their physical health, but they don't focus on their brain health. And so, I'm trying to talk about that, that there are things, how you eat, how you exercise, how you sleep, how you stay socially connected, and how you do that starting at a very early age is important.

[00:05:12]>> Why has it taken so long to get to that part? You know, I just I don't understand that. We we we've gotten, you know, handles on all sorts of diseases, and why has it taken this long?

[00:05:23]>> Well, I think the brain is a very complex, complicated organ, right? No two brains are alike, and I think it has been very frustrating for researchers, for people who've been impacted by the disease. People wish we were further along, and certainly when I started in this space back in 2003 and 4, doctors told me, you know, we're around the corner from finding a cure, and that was 25 years ago. But, I think um when I go out today, many more people um are aware of this disease, many more people have a loved one dealing with this disease, many more people understand uh that there are things that they can do, and many more people are interested in uh raising research funds for this disease.

[00:06:09]AI, I think will have a huge impact on this disease. We just saw Sam Altman at Open AI and others, you know, donate a lot of money to try and see if they can use AI to find a cure or find uh some connections that the average brain has not been able to decipher. So, I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that AI will have a big impact here.

[00:06:32]>> Did your Did your family back then have any sense that there your father was was suffering?

[00:06:38]>> Well, we had a sense cuz he started giving speeches and he started repeating himself. Um but once again, we thought that that was just a natural part of of aging. And so, we were, you know, curious about it, and then eventually, we said, you know, maybe he should not be giving speeches anymore cuz he was kind of wandering off in his speeches, and he was asking the same question over and over. And when he was diagnosed after we went, you know, many families will spend years trying to get a proper diagnosis. We don't have enough neurologists in this country, so people wait years, many months to get into a neurologist. Many people live in areas where there is no neurologist. Um so, getting a proper diagnosis, and there are different forms of dementia. I should say that right off the bat.

[00:07:26]Alzheimer's is a form of dementia, but understanding what kind of dementia you have is also very critical. Finding caregivers who are learned about dementia is also a huge issue in our country. And so there is a lot um that has changed for the good since my dad was diagnosed, but we still have a long way to go.

[00:07:50]>> It is still the the most the the biggest number is on this one. My dad had a Lewy body and that was at the time in the mid-90s people said, well, that's sort of one of these things about Alzheimer's. It's like that but a little different. And there are big differences but there is some connection between this and I I I think a lot of people are a little less confused about this. But why is it taking so long? I'm going to say it again because I'm just so frustrated that what's happening?

[00:08:20]>> Well, I think you know, you'd probably have to ask researchers about that. I have asked you know, researchers all over this country.

[00:08:27]Why don't you think we've been able to find a cure? And they will say over and over again how complex the brain is how every single brain is completely different that it has just you know, stumped the best in the brightest to date. That's why again, I'm very hopeful about AI because it can look at everything that's been done worldwide.

[00:08:50]And see if there are any connections that the human brain has missed. So I'm I'm trying to focus not so much on why we haven't gotten the cure but how do we find the cure? How do we and when is the right time to intervene in people's lives? And that is really at the Cleveland Clinic where I have the Women's Alzheimer's Movement. We're doing a huge brain study to try to determine in real time at what age the brain begins to change and it what is the right age to intervene? Is it 45? Is it 50? We're trying to advocate for people, you know, we we know a lot about oh, you should get a mammogram at this age. You should get a colonoscopy at this age. When should you get a cognitive assessment?

[00:09:34]How do we make that part of an everyday physical? How do we encourage people to get cognitive assessments? There's still a lot of myths, I think, about Alzheimer's, about who gets it and who doesn't, who should be worried about it, who shouldn't. And so, I think we still have a lot of educational work left to do.

[00:09:53]>> Well, I I appreciate what you're saying.

[00:09:54]Don't think about why we didn't do it back then. Talk about what we're going to do tomorrow. And that's I'm And that's the mantra I am now going to use, and I appreciate that, and you're putting me on the right road. Um for for that. Um when you saw my announcement, I'm wondering this past week, and decided to repost it, and by the way, we thank you a lot for that, cuz it really did add a num- a lot of numbers of people. We've been overwhelmed by this, I want to say, millions of people. Um what was going through your mind about what was happening?

[00:10:24]Here's this Here's this guy who's an anchor, and he's telling it for the first time that I'm I can't do this anymore.

[00:10:31]I'm I'm not being honest if I do, and and I'm focusing now on this.

[00:10:36]>> Well, I guess I didn't hear the I can't do this anymore part. What I heard was um this is who I am, this is what I've learned, I want to prioritize my family, and I can do something here. I can continue to report on this issue, and I will continue to do that. You may be stepping off of what you've been doing uh for 25, 30, whatever years, but you're still going to do something, and that um inspired me. My heart went out to you.

[00:11:14]Um I felt for you.

[00:11:18]I also felt really hopeful uh that you would use your voice in this space, because this space needs voices like yours uh to talk openly about what you're going through. I was very hopeful that um other people who might be in the same situation as you, they don't have to be a journalist or an anchorman, but they could be a lawyer, a doctor, a husband, a friend, a brother, that they may say if he can come forward and say that he has Alzheimer's, um I can do that, too. And the fact that you were met with such an outpouring of love and support encouraged me because people with Alzheimer's and families with Alzheimer's are afraid that they'll be met with the exact opposite reaction.

[00:12:08]So, the fact that you were met with this incredibly positive reaction was super inspiring and helpful to me. So, I heard about I heard all the things you can do and are going to do, and I heard a man who was stepping into a new space, maybe with some trepidation, but I felt your humanity, and um I was uh hopeful for you and your family and for all of us who work in this space.

[00:12:38]>> Oh, that's that's beautiful. I I I love you already. Um but always so many people have loved you before they didn't know you um because of who you are and what you've done with your life. I I will say this, I I am I I there's no trepidation on my part. I I but I have I I'm surprised. I didn't realize it was going to have this kind of reaction. I I really didn't.

[00:13:00]>> What did you think What did you think was going to happen?

[00:13:02]>> I thought it was interesting. Um I I I thought it would be a a place where I could make some interesting information available to people, get people to say we've we've been divi- dividing and divided by so so many people.

[00:13:19]>> Yeah.

[00:13:19]>> And for so long, and it's time now to bring us together again. Much like you know, the the uh the Knicks are doing. I they think they're doing it to New York. I really believe that. And you're seeing a team what it means for a team goes together and not a bunch of hot dogs. Similarly to this, we can figure this out. Um my bosses said, you know, no one's ever as far as we're concerned and see no one has ever uh done something like this who's on the news and being willing to do that and talk about it. And so I I was I was ready for that. I didn't realize, you know, that people like you would push this out and so many people, you know, talked to us. I I can't go on the streets without and I love it without getting hugs and people saying, "Thank you for this." And I do believe and and I I I think I saw you shaking your head.

[00:14:07]I do believe that this is a a movement about finding out how to do this, finding out that we don't need to bomb places, but we do need to help people in our country and around the world and try to help ourselves.

[00:14:22]>> I I I think uh I mean, you're speaking my language. I think there is so much more that unites us than divides us.

[00:14:30]Um Alzheimer's, dementia, caregiving, these are issues that impact Democrats, Republicans, men, women, gay, straight, black, white, Latino. In fact, the numbers are are are higher for minority groups, right? And so, this is an issue that should bring us to the table to the same table. We're all going to need a caregiver or end up as a caregiver in our lives. So, how do we make the caregiving journey um better for those who are on it? How do we help families in this country um survive if they have to drop out of the workplace to care for somebody that they love? We are quote the greatest country, the most powerful country on Earth, and we've got to do a better job taking care of our own. And by that, I mean all of us, right? We're all in this together.

[00:15:24]We all have a brain. We all want someone to be able to care for us, to love us, right? We don't want to try to handle Alzheimer's alone. You cannot handle Alzheimer's dementia alone. It's impossible. You will need a village, whether you're a man, a woman, gay, straight.

[00:15:43]>> village really does.

[00:15:44]>> a village and a village of Democrats, Republicans, independents, men, women, all of us. And so I always look to this issue as an issue and a way for us to come together. You know, when somebody comes into a doctor's office and wanting to get a diagnosis, trying to understand, nobody's asking them if they're a Democrat or Republican.

[00:16:07]Nobody's asking them who they voted for or didn't vote for. They're asking them, "How do you feel? What can I do to help you? What kind of support do you need?"

[00:16:17]And your family needs support, will need support, and different kind of support than you will need.

[00:16:24]They will all be walking a different journey than you will be walking. I watched my mother walk a very different journey than my father. I watched my brothers walk a different journey than myself. And I watched my children teach me about accepting my father in the present moment and stop fighting to recoup the man that he was. And that was a really um powerful lesson for me to accept him for who he was at that moment and stop trying to make him who he used to be.

[00:17:00]And so a whole family is navigating a disease in a different way. Uh but I think lifting the veil of fear is what you're doing. And I think together we will be able to make a huge difference because this is a disease where people have to come together.

[00:17:18]>> You are helping me do that and I appreciate that and I I am committed to that for as long as I I can stay healthy. I I I've been level since I started this with the with all the things I'm doing with with doctors and they say I could actually maybe last a long time.

[00:17:35]>> Can I ask you what you are doing, Bill?

[00:17:37]What are you doing so others might know what they too could do if they were diagnosed?

[00:17:41]>> want to do it right now if that's okay.

[00:17:42]>> Okay, sure.

[00:17:43]>> I will I can tell you that. I don't want to make it a public thing out of it yet.

[00:17:47]But I will say this.

[00:17:48]>> I'm in the middle of this.

[00:17:51]I I worry because it's a very expensive thing. I worry what's happening to people who don't have any money.

[00:17:58]>> Yeah.

[00:17:59]>> I'm not a billionaire.

[00:18:01]You know, and and it must be very easy to do it for a lot of those people, but you know, all these people I'm worried about that they don't have the money to do that. How do we level the playing field to do this? And one before you answer that, I will say this. I've gotten tons of of of of I've had tons of people talk to me about it is time for all of us to band together and these are these are people who have are have been elected to office.

[00:18:26]>> Yeah.

[00:18:27]>> from both sides of the of both sides of the Congress and they want to do it together. They're tired of this and I think that that's maybe the most important thing that I can help do, too.

[00:18:37]One of them.

[00:18:37]>> That's wonderful because I think though one of the things that people worry about is they don't want to go and find out if they have dementia or Alzheimer's because they think, well, there's nothing I can do. So I don't want to know. But those of us who have been in this space advocating and have saying, you know, early diagnosis, there are things that slow the progression of this disease. There is hope out there and may not come in the bottle of a cure, but being able to put your affairs in order, being able to talk to your family, being able to follow a specific kind of perhaps MIND diet or Mediterranean diet.

[00:19:16]Being able to exercise. Being able to prioritize your brain health. Being trying to find out if you're available for certain treatments that do slow down. Trying to find out if your insurance covers those treatments. If you're available >> not.

[00:19:32]>> Yours does not. Okay, there you go. So, this is something that obviously that we need to fix in this country. But, I bring this up because so many people think, "Well, I don't want to know. I don't want to know." And I just try to say that there is hope out there for when you do know. There is help out there. But, you're right. It's too expensive and we have to fix that.

[00:19:54]>> And if you don't have the money, it's really tough. And I I listen, baby boomers are going to live a longer time.

[00:19:59]Um and and if it if it takes all that time your father lived a long time and and that was good thing. Um but, most people didn't didn't don't most people don't live to 95 and they didn't back then. Um I worry about what's going to happen to people who don't have the money to be able to do this.

[00:20:15]>> Yeah.

[00:20:16]>> It is a real problem. We have there's a senator a US senator in New Jersey whose father 79 years old is an expert on on this kind of thing on Alzheimer's and he he's he's having a rough time and the the guy who's the senator is trying to look at it and say, "How do we deal with this? I got to do with my father. I got to I got to deal with this. This has got to be my entire focus or a lot of my focus while I'm in the Senate." And we are going to talk to him because he's a wonderful guy and he wants to make it happen.

[00:20:46]>> That's wonderful. I've testified a couple times in front of the Congress, the Senate for increased funding for Alzheimer's research. We do need more of a federal commitment to Alzheimer's. We need a commitment to caregivers as I said around this country. We need to look at the available the accessibility and affordability of drugs that slow down the progression of Alzheimer's. So, there's a lot of work to do for a lot of people.

[00:21:16]This is one disease that, you know, welcomes everybody to the table and no matter your age, there's a role that everybody can play in this issue.

[00:21:29]>> I have I have two things more I want to I get to you and then I'll let you go but I I thank you so much for this.

[00:21:35]I'm putting I have a very small taper myself. Uh today there there was something about you one of your products on uh on what was it on I think today?

[00:21:43]>> On Good Morning America.

[00:21:45]>> Was it on Good Morning and you were talking about your your Mosh which is your brain health bar, right? And I saw that. What is that?

[00:21:53]>> I have one. I was just eating it right before. This is a bar that my it's a protein bar for your brain. It's called Mosh. This the high protein this is half eaten so I apologize. I can get box over here but >> the other half.

[00:22:08]>> What I'll tell you what it is. It's for you to focus on your brain health. We raise funds for Alzheimer's research for the Women's Alzheimer's Movement through these bars. They come in all different flavors. These are high protein. They support a healthy brain.

[00:22:22]They have nutrients that your brain needs to function well and the goal is to get people thinking about what they put into their mouths and into their brains and you know, the customer is 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 but we're trying to get people to really focus at a very young age on eating for brain health.

[00:22:44]>> Good. I love this. I love this so >> you'll get some. You'll eat some, Bill.

[00:22:49]>> Exactly. I'm going to go buy some right now and then I'll donate that way. I I do have one question that has nothing to do with this. But have everything to do with our country.

[00:22:59]I have a question about your your Sargent Shriver.

[00:23:01]Lots of cuts. I I mentioned who he was and what he did.

[00:23:06]That was so important back then. The cut in in Peace Corps money and workforce.

[00:23:11]What would he say today about what happened to the Peace Corps?

[00:23:17]>> Well, I think he would be focused on what's happening to Head Start, what's happening to the Job Corps, what's happening to Foster Grandparents, Legal Aid for the poor, all the programs that came out of the Office of Economic Opportunity in addition to the Peace Corps. I think he'd be calling, using his voice, stomping with his fist, and encouraging people to get involved, to use their voices, to understand the importance of these programs, that they're not handouts, that they're hands up, and that we all need help at some point in our lives. As I was saying, we're all going to be a caregiver or need a caregiver. We're all going to need the help of another person, of a program, whether it's whether we have Alzheimer's or whether we need Legal Aid, whatever it is. And I think he always felt that the Peace Corps was the best, that those who served in the Peace Corps, those who served in America, were the best that this country had to offer because they were people who stepped forward and said, "I want to be a part of the solution. I want to be a part of making our country better, be it overseas or here at home." So, I think he would be encouraging people to get involved, to not lose hope, to see themselves as the solution, to vote, and to remember that regardless of who their fellow human being is, that that person is also a child of God.

[00:24:41]>> I did not expect the reaction to me when I did this. Um my old boss heard about it and he said to me, um all the good you've done for our company, um this could be your biggest job ever, and you're going to do the best thing you've ever done.

[00:25:00]And and then when I did it and then when I saw you use my use what we did and put it out there. And listening to you today uh it has given me you know, even more right here in my heart that I should be doing this and I'm going to do it. It's the only thing I'm going to do at this station really coming forth. Um and I appreciate you giving me a lesson in what you've done and how you view this. I really do.

[00:25:28]Say I love you, I respect you and I would like to do this again if we could.

[00:25:33]>> I look forward to working with you, to advocating with you, to supporting you and your family uh on this road forward and I have no doubt in my mind or my heart that you will make a tremendous difference in this space. You already have. And um so go with God.

[00:25:53]>> I appreciate that. I appreciate There's something that happens when I have this and it started when I had this. Um is I get teary-eyed when I feel something and then in about 6 seconds it's over.

[00:26:05]Uh and I never had that before. Although I I've always been kind of I could cry easily but but never like that where I all of a sudden wave of something.

[00:26:14]>> Yeah.

[00:26:15]>> Any ideas what that might be, doctor?

[00:26:17]>> It's emotion. That's your humanity.

[00:26:19]That's your humanity. Probably you've spent a lifetime kind of keeping it in check. You're an anchor man. You're a journalist and that didn't work in that line of work, right? You I mean it's certainly when I was anchoring and stuff, you you know, you weren't there to cry. You weren't there to feel emotion. You were there to deliver the news and you had a job and shut off all your emotion. And so uh this perhaps is a way for you to get in touch with your own heart and your own humanity and frees you uh to express your feelings and um it's a beautiful thing I think to see somebody feel and and honor their feelings and so I want to wish you a happy Father's Day. I know you talked about that you becoming a grandparent I too have become a grandparent myself and I too spent a lifetime kind of not showing emotion so I think it's a beautiful thing that you show emotion.

[00:27:20]>> My kids say dad you're so brave and I said no no I'm not. You're the ones that are being brave and I really do believe that.

[00:27:29]I can't tell you how much this has been helpful I think to not just me but to all the people who are going to watch this because there are a lot of people and there going to be more. This is exploding there's no question about that.

[00:27:41]>> Yeah.

[00:27:41]>> Rick Shriver thank you for joining us.

[00:27:43]Thank you pal.