BY DEVIKA C MEHTA
LOS ANGELES, CA - A student, researcher, caregiver, Nihal Satyadev, is the CEO & Co-Founder of the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer's. His accomplishments are many, but his objective is one- to ultimately get rid of Alzheimer's by finding a cure for those who are suffering and others who are at possible risk in future.
LOS ANGELES, CA - A student, researcher, caregiver, Nihal Satyadev, is the CEO & Co-Founder of the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer's. His accomplishments are many, but his objective is one- to ultimately get rid of Alzheimer's by finding a cure for those who are suffering and others who are at possible risk in future.
.Realization drew on the 22-year-old University of Redlands student, who founded the organization in 2015, after attending a national summit where he realized that he was one of the only millennials in attendance.Speaking about his experience, Satyadev says, “Originally my interest piqued after one of my grandmother was diagnosed with the disease. It also took a surreal turn after I went to attend a lecture. I was hearing about all these horrifying facts that were going to affect me and my peers more than any other generation. The health care system, the amount of rooms available in senior homes, and the burden it will weigh on my future family. But I was the only millennial in sight and that came as a shock to me.”
After returning to the campus, Satyadev immediately reached out to the current and only Alzheimer’s focused student group on campus, Undergraduate Gerontology and Alzheimer’s Disease Association, which was later changed to the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer's (YMAA), thus attracting more people. So far, with the collaboration of Satyadev, Professor Fernando Torres-Gil, former U.S. Secretary of Aging and Dr. Gary Small, a world renowned Geriatric Psychiatrist, the organization has done a commendable job by providing students with research and scholarship opportunities. It also offers chapters web space to promote themselves, pushing for advocacy for the disease such as through lobbying as well as providing free youth caregiver services.
Satyadev tells people that Alzheimer's is real and by 2050, reports show that over 15 million people will be diagnosed with the disease in the US itself. That being said, more people than ever before are at a high risk for Alzheimer’s, and the country’s healthcare system is already struggling. What will happen when the children of this generation reach old age?
He wishes people to know that there are two pertinent issues when it comes to Alzheimer's - first, people who are diagnosed with the disease don’t openly talk about the realities as it is hard for them to accept it; secondly, people need to realize that health care crisis is real and government spending is not sufficient.
What saddens him is that the disease has no cure till date and is unaffordable to many. “Till date nobody has ever lived through Alzheimer’s. It not just affects a person, but a whole family,” he said.
The organization prides itself in its ability to create a space for a solely student-run organization from the bottom up. Thanking his supporters, peers, sponsors and volunteers, Satyadev states, “People have come forward to help at many levels. Some are supporters who have some affected family member, and others who understand the responsibility. There has been quite a significant improvement. Today, the program is deepening its roots in 20 plus schools while attracting hundreds of students and providing 2,000 plus hours of respite time to caregivers, which is very gratifying.”
His life ideology revolves around ‘Confucius’ quote- “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
A UCLA alumnus, and an avid fan of Premier League Liverpool, he also enjoys his mother’s home cooked lamb curry and loves to hike and head to Yosemite for backpacking.
For more info: www.theyouthmovement.org and to contact Satyadev: www.nihalsatyadev.com .
After returning to the campus, Satyadev immediately reached out to the current and only Alzheimer’s focused student group on campus, Undergraduate Gerontology and Alzheimer’s Disease Association, which was later changed to the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer's (YMAA), thus attracting more people. So far, with the collaboration of Satyadev, Professor Fernando Torres-Gil, former U.S. Secretary of Aging and Dr. Gary Small, a world renowned Geriatric Psychiatrist, the organization has done a commendable job by providing students with research and scholarship opportunities. It also offers chapters web space to promote themselves, pushing for advocacy for the disease such as through lobbying as well as providing free youth caregiver services.
Satyadev tells people that Alzheimer's is real and by 2050, reports show that over 15 million people will be diagnosed with the disease in the US itself. That being said, more people than ever before are at a high risk for Alzheimer’s, and the country’s healthcare system is already struggling. What will happen when the children of this generation reach old age?
He wishes people to know that there are two pertinent issues when it comes to Alzheimer's - first, people who are diagnosed with the disease don’t openly talk about the realities as it is hard for them to accept it; secondly, people need to realize that health care crisis is real and government spending is not sufficient.
What saddens him is that the disease has no cure till date and is unaffordable to many. “Till date nobody has ever lived through Alzheimer’s. It not just affects a person, but a whole family,” he said.
The organization prides itself in its ability to create a space for a solely student-run organization from the bottom up. Thanking his supporters, peers, sponsors and volunteers, Satyadev states, “People have come forward to help at many levels. Some are supporters who have some affected family member, and others who understand the responsibility. There has been quite a significant improvement. Today, the program is deepening its roots in 20 plus schools while attracting hundreds of students and providing 2,000 plus hours of respite time to caregivers, which is very gratifying.”
His life ideology revolves around ‘Confucius’ quote- “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
A UCLA alumnus, and an avid fan of Premier League Liverpool, he also enjoys his mother’s home cooked lamb curry and loves to hike and head to Yosemite for backpacking.
For more info: www.theyouthmovement.org and to contact Satyadev: www.nihalsatyadev.com .
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