Pako Rios was 46, building a career as an attorney in Orlando with his wife, when a catastrophic spinal cord injury derailed everything he had worked for. What followed was a long road through depression and worsening symptoms that no one could explain. When a neurologist finally connected the dots, the answer was a second devastating blow: an early-stage Alzheimer's diagnosis. Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, Rios shares what early answers made possible and why he wants other patients to have the same chance. Read the full piece here →

From the Orlando Sentinel, by Pako Rios:

"Learning this was terrifying. Fortunately, my diagnosis came early enough to give me options and precious time to decide what to do next."

"Delaying a diagnosis does not delay the disease."

"My father lived with Alzheimer's in a different era. The options I have today were not available to him. That is what gives me hope and urgency for today's patients."

"Today, we have opportunities that people with Alzheimer's did not have before. We need to make sure patients get to them in time."

Pako Rios's commentary in the Orlando Sentinel is a personal and urgent reminder that early diagnosis is not just a medical milestone — it is the difference between having options and running out of time to use them.

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