November 21, 2014

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 Network Board Member Ken Dychtwald highlights seven things we can do to end Alzheimer's, the need to fund NIH to fight Alzheimer's, and researchers work to develop an eye test for Alzheimer's (read more). 
 

USA2 Spotlight 

  • A November 20, 2014 Huffington Post opinion piece by USA2 Network Board Member Ken Dychtwald highlighted seven things we can do to end Alzheimer's. According to Dychtwald, "It's infuriating to me that our politicians from both parties have not displayed the leadership necessary to build a modern-day Manhattan Project (or Apollo Mission) to expeditiously stop this disease in its tracks. And so, it's up to us: Together we must set a goal of stopping Alzheimer's by 2025. We must stop it before it becomes a pandemic. We must deploy sufficient resources (experts believe that it could require $10 billion, similar to what was ultimately needed to combat HIV/AIDS), scientific talent and problem-solving technologies to save our collective future."
Must reads
  • A November 20, 2014 Seattle Times opinion piece by Alan Aderem underscored the need to fund NIH to fight infectious diseases. According to Aderem, "The NIH not only funds research for diseases that threaten people in developing countries, but also funds research that saves lives right here at home. NIH-funded research investigates diseases that are the leading causes of death in the United States, such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Funding the NIH is good for the economy. According to Collins, for every $1 budgeted to the NIH, the organization returns $2 to the economy in increased bioscience industry productivity. Additionally, according to the NIH, funding to the organization supports more than 400,000 jobs across the country…We must ensure NIH receives the funding needed for the research that would spark the next generation of scientific breakthroughs and maintain America’s stature as the global leader in medical innovation and advancement." Alan Aderem is president and director of Seattle BioMed, a nonprofit focusing on infectious disease research. Seattle BioMed and its researchers have been recipients of NIH grants.
  • A November 24, 2014 Chemical & Engineering News article reported on the efforts of researchers to develop an eye test for Alzheimer's. According to the article, "Swati S. More and Robert Vince of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Drug Design have developed a noninvasive imaging technique that tracks accumulation of the Alzheimer’s peptide, amyloid-β, in the eye (ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2014, DOI: 10.1021/cn500242z). Although the pair have so far only peered into the retinas of mice with their patented, microscope-based method, they hope to one day use it to identify Alzheimer’s disease in human patients years before symptoms manifest."