USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A July 13, 2016 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s statement announced that “Following a Senate Finance Committee, Subcommittee on Health, briefing, “Alzheimer’s Disease: The Struggle for Families, a Looming Crisis for Medicare,” WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s (WA2), an UsAgainstAzheimer’s network, submitted a statement for the record, outlining the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on women, emphasizing the need for sex and gender differentiated research, as well as asking committee members to co-sponsor legislation that supports caregivers – the majority of whom are women.” Read the statement here. 

MUST READS

A July 14, 2016 Boston Globe article reported that “Five drug makers, including Cambridge-based Biogen Inc., are banding together with academic scientists to form a research consortium aimed at speeding development of therapies for Alzheimer’s, a neurological disorder that has stubbornly eluded treatments.”

A July 13, 2016 The Wall Street Journal article reported that “Changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease can be seen as early as childhood in people with a heightened genetic risk, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.”

A July 13, 2016 AlzForum.com article reported that “Large genome-wide association studies have implicated fewer than two dozen genes in AD, but some scientists believe thousands of other variants may influence the course of the disease, even if only by a smidgen.”

A July 13, 2016 The San Diego Union-Tribune article highlighted dementia-related violence and the work of Alzheimer’s San Diego. According to the article, “Too many people mistakenly write this disease off as one that is just about forgetting names and places, when in reality it is a disease that comes with a laundry list of challenging behaviors, sometimes including violence…When it comes to dementia, behaviors are often a form of communication. In situations like this, it is important to uncover the reasons behind the aggression. Is the person with dementia in pain or discomfort? Were there any recent changes to medications? Are they able to recognize their loved one or do they see them as a stranger in the house who might harm them?”

A July 13, 2016 The Washington Post article highlighted the growing healthcare spending and linked Alzheimer's breakthroughs as future drivers of this trend. According to the article, “But a recent editorial by two economists published in the Journal of the American Medical Association was skeptical of the idea the law could be credited with the slowdown in the growth of spending — and noted an array of future challenges. ‘This pressure on health care cost increases is not likely to moderate. Experts expect a wave of new medicines and devices, including immunotherapies in oncology, breakthrough treatments for Alzheimer's disease, and new gene and cell therapies. Each treatment offers great promise but is likely to further accelerate health care spending,’ Amitabh Chandra of Harvard University and Jonathan Skinner of Dartmouth College wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.”