A National Strategy for Alzheimer's

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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Since the National Alzheimer's Prevention Act was passed into law in November of 2010, the Obama administration has been legally bound to develop a national strategy to fight Alzheimer's disease.  As the first draft of the plan is nearing completion, certain themes have been clearly expressed by the public in terms of what they hope the plan includes.

As described in this Associated Press article published by Time,  the plan should address three elements that have been consistently advocated in public forums:

1. Primary care physicians need better training to make earlier diagnoses of cognitive problems
2. Huge spending discrepancies by the National Institutes of Health need to be adressed as Alzheimer's disease receives a tiny fraction of the support that cancer and AIDS receive
3. More community support programs are needed to help Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers survive at home during later stages of the disease

While it is still unclear what the first version of the strategy will look like, or how detailed it will be, I am pleased to see those priorities rising from the public realm.  Two of them are completely focused on the pragmatic benefits of doing a better job with the scientific knowledge we already have, while only the NIH budget issue seems to be focused on funding new (and probably elusive) scientific breakthroughs.

A Call for Funding for Alzheimer's Research

 Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation

 This is interesting.  At a time when partisanship seems to have reached a high in the US political process, at least one prominent Republican is calling for an increase in spending.

Specifically, as reported by NBC News, Newt Gingrich is making the case for dramatically increasing funding for AD research.  I am sure that is not a popular position with his party, but it is the right long-term perspective.

To reiterate some statistics that are widely published, we spent about $6B of federal funds last year on cancer research, about $3B on HIV research, and only $500M on AD research.  All are worthy causes, but the AD program is clearly underfunded.

This is especially true when considering the full economic argument that shows the enormous cost of caring for patients with diminished cognitive capacity.  It is well documented that once memory and judgment begin to slip, patients become less effective at administering self-care, and their chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension often spiral out of control.  This leads to poor health and stark increases in the costs of their care.

Spending on AD research can not only accelerate our progress toward better treatments but can facilitate a return to sustainability for the US health care system.

Federal Funding for Alzheimer's

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
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This graphic depicts the federal commitment to Alzheimer's research compared to the commitment we make to other diseases.  All are worthy causes and deserve strong funding support.  However, the relatively small investment in Alzheimer's disease indicates how slow we have been to recognize the severity of the looming epidemic.

We recently posted that the National Alzheimer's Prevention Act was passed into law and we pointed out in that post that the law had no funding attached.  Please follow this blog, and encourage your friends to do so as well, and we will keep you informed about how to lend your voice to support an increase in funding for Alzheimer's research.

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A better understanding and more awareness of Alzheimer's related issues can impact personal health decisions and generate significant impact across a population of aging individuals. Please use the share button below to spread this educational message as widely as possible.