January 28, 2015

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A January 28, 2015 The Diane Rhem Show featured USA2 co-founder Trish Vradenburg in a show about "Still Alice" and Alzheimer's disease. Trish underscored the need for increased public outcry and commitment to stop Alzheimer's. Listen to the show here


MUST READS

A January 27, 2015 Baltimore Sun article reported on the release of discussion language of the 21st Century Cures Initiative and the GOP's focus on medical innovation. According to the article, "Nearly a year in the making, the proposal from the House Energy and Commerce Committee represents a political shift from the Republican Party's persistent effort to undercut the Affordable Care Act toward a focus on medical research that might ultimately draw bipartisan support…The proposal also calls for changes at the Food and Drug Administration, such as the speeding of clinical trials and extending patents for drugmakers who develop therapies for complex diseases such as Alzheimer's. Debate over those proposals is sure to set off a flurry of lobbying by universities, drug companies and medical device manufacturers." Also reported on by Science Mag.

A January 27, 2015 BBC News article reported that spending on older adult care has fallen by a fifth in England over the last 10 years. According to the article, "The research - based on official data - showed £1,188 was being spent in 2003-4 per person over the age of 65. By 2013-14 that had fallen to £951 - a drop of 20% - prompting experts to warn that vulnerable people were being failed. Other parts of the UK are also struggling to keep pace with the ageing population…To work out spending figures that reflected the ageing population and the increasingly complex needs that people have, the BBC compared data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre on funding by councils, and Office for National Statistics population data."