MUST READS AND LISTEN 

A July 30, 2015 The Hill article by Robin Strongin highlighted “curveball” questions for the 10 Republican presidential candidates who will participate in the first debate of the 2016 campaign on Aug. 6, including a question about Alzheimer’s and women. According to Strongin, “Women are predominantly the caregivers for the more than 5 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer's disease, a total that is projected to nearly triple by the year 2040. Many middle-class households caring for family members with this disease are caught in an economic no-woman's land. They can't afford long-term care insurance, but they don't qualify for Medicaid. How do we make long-term care more affordable? What is your position on an expansion of community-based services? Should Medicare services be expanded to pay family caregivers for the services they provide, which would help keep patients in their own homes and not confined to institutions?” Strongin is the founder and creator of Disruptive Women in Health Care.

A July 29, 2015 The Herald News article highlighted the collaboration between Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Newt Gingrich in a “battle for NIH funding.” According to the article, “Warren invited the conservative Republican to testify Monday at a forum she scheduled to promote additional funding for the National Institutes of Health, which has seen its research dollars decline over recent years. As speaker in the late 1990s, Gingrich was able to double NIH funding while also balancing the federal budget. Gingrich was all too happy to offer his support, arguing that federal investments in basic research can help find needed cures that will be far less expensive than treating chronic and debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancer. The NIH, he noted, spent $731 million on dementia research this year while $154 billion was spent by Medicare and Medicaid on treatment.”

ICYMI: A July 22, 2015 The Diane Rehm Show featured a conversation about the latest research focused on diagnosing, treating, and preventing Alzheimer’s. According to the description, “Scientists from around the world are meeting in Washington, D.C. this week to share research on Alzheimer’s. Five million Americans suffer from this disease, and without preventative strategies or a breakthrough in treatment, experts predict this number will exceed 13 million by 2050. But there is some good news: Researchers say they are developing better tools to determine an individual’s risk for developing Alzheimer’s later in life and are learning more about the kinds of interventions that can slow the progression of the disease.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

A July 29, 2015 The Stanford Daily article reported that “the National Institute of Health (NIH) gave Stanford the final notice of a $7.3 million award to fund an Alzheimer’s Research Center, one of more than two dozen centers that have been established and funded by the NIH as part of an attempt to advance research about Alzheimer’s disease.”

A July 29, 2015 Examiner.com article reported that “UCLA researchers have found that a natural protein fragment produced in the brain can inhibit of a key enzyme implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.”