NAMES IN THE NEWS : Actress Urges Alzheimer’s Aid

WASHINGTON — Actress Angie Dickinson, whose sister has Alzheimer’s disease, called at a congressional hearing today for Americans to write the White House seeking more funding for research into the crippling disease.

Dickinson testified at a hearing of the House Select Aging Committee and the Senate aging subcommittee along with fellow actress Shelley Fabares and others whose relatives are among the 4 million victims of the degenerative disease.

Alzheimer’s, which attacks the brain and leads to impaired memory, thinking and behavior, kills 100,000 people a year and is the nation’s fourth-leading cause of death behind heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Dickinson, her voice often choked with emotion, told the committee that her sister, Mary Lou Belmont, came down with the disease five years ago at age 55, and now needs constant care at home costing $80 a day. But, she said, “most families cannot afford help.”