Room to improve

Tian holds a doctorate in clinical neuroscience and conducted post-doctoral research in neuropsychology at top universities in Britain. He is considered an expert in Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

Yet he couldn't even get a job and was nicknamed the "idiocy expert" when he first returned to China in 2005. He said Alzheimer's was greatly underestimated and neglected in the country.

"There is a 4.8 percent Alzheimer's rate among Chinese people 65 and older, and it is estimated that China adds a million Alzheimer's patients each year," Tian said. Yet there isn't a single department in any major Chinese hospital that treats Alzheimer's exclusively, he said. Many patients and their families detour through different treatments before they find the right one.

"Most patients who came to me were already in an advanced stage of Alzheimer's," Tian said.

There are more than 300 Alzheimer's disease centers in the United State that provide diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and daily nursing. China has none.

"There isn't even a national diagnosis standard for Alzheimer's," Tian said.

Liu of China Aging Development Foundation, is worried about the time, not far off, when the first generation of single children will have to take care of four elderly parents. He offered two suggestions to help China prepare.

"Universities should open postgraduate majors in cognitive disorders or Alzheimer's disease. And every comprehensive hospital should have an exclusive department that treats nothing but Alzheimer's."

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