Alzheimer's Association Update

In April, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the President’s 2014 budget includes $100 million dedicated to the fight against Alzheimer’s and the implementation of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. The new Alzheimer’s resources would be used to fund research, awareness, education and outreach, and caregiver support. The budget also includes $100 million for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, announced in March. The budget has been presented for consideration to the U.S. Congress. The Alzheimer’s Association has been working closely with the Administration to implement the National Plan and increase the federal government’s commitment to addressing Alzheimer’s disease. Since 2011, Alzheimer’s Association President and CEO Harry Johns has served as a member of the Advisory Council for Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Support, advising the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the National Plan. This past March, Johns represented the Alzheimer’s community at an appropriations hearing for the subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Committee. In April, Johns also attended a White House meeting on the BRAIN Initiative, which will complement research activities laid out in the National Plan. At its annual Advocacy Forum in late April, the Association continued its efforts to raise awareness of the urgent need for more Alzheimer’s funding. The Forum, now in its 25th year, mobilized hundreds of advocates from across the country to ask Congress to provide more support for Alzheimer’s disease. After the announcement of the proposed new funding, Alzheimer’s Association President and CEO Harry Johns commented, “In addition to the human suffering caused by the disease, Alzheimer’s is creating an enormous financial strain on the health care system, families, and the federal budget. Last year’s creation of the first-ever National Alzheimer’s Plan with coordinated, measurable outcomes was a critical step, but unless there are resources to implement the plan and the will to abide by it, we cannot hope to make sufficient progress.” According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2013 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, Alzheimer’s currently costs the nation $203 billion annually and is projected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2050 [1]. The direct cost of Alzheimer’s and related dementias is greater than any other condition in the United States, including heart disease and cancer, according to a recent study [2]. “Alzheimer’s is not normal aging, but because age is the biggest risk factor the graying of America threatens to bankrupt the nation. If we’re going to succeed in changing the trajectory of this epidemic, we must provide scientists with the resources they need,” said Johns. Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury are among the conditions that could benefit from the BRAIN Initiative. The Initiative aims to help researchers find new ways to treat, cure, and prevent these and other brain disorders. The Initiative would provide resources to accelerate the development and application of new technologies showing how individual brain cells and complex neural circuits interact. The hope is that these technologies will provide new information about how the brain records, processes, uses, stores, and retrieves information, as well as how brain function and behavior are linked.