MUST READS

A December 2015 USA Today article reported that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will announce a plan to cure Alzheimer’s by 2025 that includes increasing funding to $2 billion annually. According to the article, “The Democratic front-runner will propose spending $2 billion a year in an attempt to cure the degenerative brain disease by 2025, according to a campaign official who was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement. It’s the first time a presidential candidate has made Alzheimer’s a major campaign issue, said Robert Egge, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, whose advocates are leaning on all 2016 campaigns to take up the issue.” Hillary Tweets about plan.

A December 21, 2015 FoxNews.com opinion piece by Newt Gingrich and Bill Brazell underscored the need to double NIH’s budget. According to the authors, “It is hard to imagine a smarter, and more compassionate, fiscal policy. Kidney disease, of course, represents just one of many debilitating conditions for which the NIH funds crucial basic research. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis, Alzheimer’s—swifter progress toward cures would benefit all of those who suffer from these terrible diseases, to say nothing of taxpayers at large. We have proposed doubling the NIH budget to $60 billion and reforming it to reduce bureaucracy, focus resources on basic research for the most expensive and prevalent health problems, and give the director more flexibility to redirect funds where they are urgently needed.” Newt Gingrich, a Republican, was speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999 and Bill Brazell, a partner at WIT Strategy, served on the board of the PKD Foundation from 2007 to 2013. 

A December 22, 2015 ScienceAlert.com article reported that “The natural removal of toxic proteins that clump together in the brain to cause Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders can be boosted by a drug that increases activity in the brain's 'garbage disposal', according to a new study.”

RESOURCE 

A December 21, 2015 Hilarity for Charity press statement highlighted a $1 million grant program for Alzheimer's and dementia care relief in partnership with Home Instead Senior Care. According to the statement, “Grant recipients will be connected with a Home Instead office in their community, which will provide free care services from a professional CAREGiverSM specially trained in effectively and compassionately assisting individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Grants range from short-term grants of 25 hours to long-term care, based on the need of the family.”

FROM AROUND THE INTERNET 

From NPR: As Aging Brain's Internal Clock Fades, A New Timekeeper May Kick In

From The Washington Post: For ‘Concussion’ doctor, the spotlight only gets brighter

From STAT: Why Ted Cruz’s plan to overhaul the FDA would jeopardize public health