Cleveland Clinic CEO: The Brain is the Big New Frontier

The CEO of one of the most technically advanced medical facilities in the U.S., Dr. Toby Cosgrove, says the brain could be on the leading edge of solving Alzheimer’s and Autism.

“I think the brain is the big new frontier…The two things that worry me about society is… Alzheimer’s and Autism, the two ends of life which are tremendously expensive [and] emotionally very taxing,” he said on FOX Business’ Wall Street Week.

Alzheimer's is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. according to Cosgrove, and he is concerned that there haven’t been any major breakthroughs for treating the disease.

“The economics of this are really frightening. We are in the process of researching it like many other people are and we’re learning more and more about it, but still no major breakthroughs that are going to reverse that problem,” he said.

According to Autismspeaks.org, a government survey suggests that 1 in 45 children between the ages of 3 through 17 have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Cosgrove also gave advice on how to improve your health and better your chances of avoiding diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

“I think the best thing you can do is the same things you should do for your heart, exercise, appropriate eating, weight under control, no smoking and those things all reduce inflammation which is certainly part of the problem,” he said.