Analyzing a TED Talk - Kalee Fuller

Link to the TED Talk

When we were given the assignment to analyze a TED Talk, I was excited to see what was out there that had any relation to the Best Friends Center. I found a very interesting Talk by Samuel Cohen from June of this year called “Alzheimer’s is not normal aging—and we can cure it.” 

Cohen delivering his TED Talk.

Cohen began his TED Talk with a story about a woman who goes to the doctor with a brain issue, 114 years ago. As he explains the story, the audience finds out that the doctor was actually Dr. Alzheimer, and this was the first discovered case of Alzheimer’s. This was the only story that Cohen told through his TED Talk, yet he incorporated it throughout the entire thing, making sure to relate points back to it. Sometimes in the video, the cameramen would show the audience, everyone seeming so intrigued by what Cohen had to say, waiting for what he was going to inform them about next. 

While the story about the discovery of Alzheimer’s was interesting, Samuel Cohen went so much farther, explaining the effect that Alzheimer’s is having on the world today and the effect it can have in the future. Even though I’ve been working at Best Friends now for the entire semester, there was some much about the disease and the effect that it is having that I did not know. For example, the money spent on cancer research is five times greater than that spent on Alzheimer’s, yet the money spent on the care of people with Alzheimer’s is double the amount that is spent on cancer patients. Similarly, he mentions that of the top 10 death-causing diseases in this country, Alzheimer’s is the ONLY one that does not have something that has been created to stop it, control it, or at least slow it down. 

Cohen used this graphic to display the costs of
Alzheimer's research in comparison to cancer research.

So why are we as a country so unaware of Alzheimer’s, yet so aware of so many other diseases? Because awareness is not being raised. Cohen explains to audience that while the cancer patients and their families can be out promoting studies for their disease and raising awareness, people with Alzheimer’s cannot. And their families and loved ones are exhausted from the amount of care that the Alzheimer patient must receive. So, Cohen explains, that leaves the raising of awareness up to those who were listening to him; if a cure is not worked towards, Alzheimer’s is going to effect 1 in 2 people by the year 2050, when the generation of baby boomers has reached old age. 

Cohen stayed in this spot through his whole TED Talk. 

These jaw-dropping facts and realizations that Samuel Cohen delivers are very eye opening. Even though he stayed in the same position through his thoroughly effective 8 minute presentation and used very little hand gestures, the impact he had on his audience was huge. It was interesting to see that in Cohen’s situation it was more effective for him to deliver the hard facts and inform his audience than to really “paint a picture” for them, since the topic is so fact driven. Nevertheless, when he asks for the audience to help him raise awareness at the end of his TED Talk, I at least felt compelled to take some kind of action. 

After working in Best Friends and watching this TED Talk, I have found such an interest in Alzheimer’s and the research that is going into it. Working in the organization, I am seeing how it is directly effecting the patients and their families, so I am seeing how needed the additional support for the research is for them and their families.