April 14, 2014

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

Devastating impact of early onset Alzheimer's, USA2 board member Meryl Comer calls for action against Alzheimer's, and NIH's progress to repurpose drugs to treat Alzheimer's (read more). 
 
 

Must reads

  • An April 13, 2014 CBS News broadcast segment highlighted the stories of Alzheimer's patients participating in a major study taking place in Medellin, Colombia. According to the segment, "A breakthrough can't come soon enough for Natasha, or for another family member, Mauricio, who lives in the small village of Yarumal, north of Medellin. His mother, in her 50s, was in the final stages of her illness when we visited. Mauricio left school at 13 to take care of his mother: "I bathe her, I dress her, I feed her, I do everything," he said. "I always wear myself out. They told me that I look tired. Right now, yes. I always feel exhausted.""
  • An April 12, 2014 The Hill opinion piece by Meryl Comer and Maria C. Freireand underscored the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer's on women and urged for action. According to the authors, "How many more proof points are required for urgent political action? Five million Americans and more than 44 million people worldwide are estimated to have Alzheimer’s or dementia, and the growth trajectory of victims is one every 68 seconds. By any mindful measure, we are, indeed, a generation out of time." Freireis is president and executive director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and Comer is president of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer's Initiative and co-founder of  WomenAgainstAlzheimers.
  • An April 11, 2014 Arizona Capital Times opinion piece by Joan Koerber-Walker advocated for increased investment in medical innovation to save money and improve lives. According to Koeber-Walker, "From our nation’s capital to state houses to all of our kitchen tables, the cost of health care and health care delivery are important conversations. While there are many opinions on the best way to address the health care challenges we face locally, nationally, and globally, life science innovation may be our best bet for bending the cost curve down today and promises even greater savings in the future." Joan Koerber-Walker is president & CEO of AZBio.
  • An April 11, 2014 Bloomberg article reported on NIH's efforts to repurpose "old drugs" to treat Alzheimer's. According to the article, "Research began a year ago on a therapy targeting another disease “is looking pretty interesting” in Alzheimer’s, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said today at a breakfast sponsored by Bloomberg Government in Washington…“A year from now, I think we’ll know if we’ve hit a home run in there somewhere,” he said at the breakfast…“These compounds have already gone through most of the pipeline,” Collins said of the NIH-funded research. “You can go almost immediately to a clinical trial. And if it works, wow, you’ve saved 10 years.”"