Must read

• An October 16, 2013 The Fiscal Times opinion piece by Michael Hodin called on the government to invest in Alzheimer's. According to Hodin, "In a time when reaching across the aisle is akin to treason, investing in Alzheimer’s should be one thing on which both parties can agree. Costs are already overwhelming and the prevalence of this disease is poised to swell. Health care spending is one of the trickiest, most decisive questions of modern life – yet for all the hard questions to answer, investing in Alzheimer’s should be a no-brainer."

• An October 17, 2013 Politico article reported on the longterm impact of sequestration on the nation's research science infrastructure. According to the article, "The government may finally be on a path to reopening, but the shutdown’s effects will linger for scientists studying everything from climate change to cancer. Antarctica-bound field researchers stuck in budget limbo over the past three weeks fret that decades of data on penguins and ice sheets will end up with a glaring gap, undercutting their documentation of global warming. Doctors operating federal-funded clinical studies on Alzheimer’s, cocaine addiction and heart disease worry they’ve lost the trust of patients."
• An October 16, 2013 NPR article reported on the impact of the nation's budget problems on its scientific future. According to the article, "Among the harms resulting from sequestration and the recent government shutdown, it’s hard to imagine anything worse than the damage to our National Institutes of Health (NIH). For generations, this federal agency has been the world leader in funding medical research…Less research means fewer discoveries and, in the long term, fewer new medicines, diagnostics and medical technologies for conditions such as Alzheimer’s, the costs of which are expected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2050."

• An October 16, 2013 Medical Xpress article reported that researchers at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California have found that "People who carry a genetic mutation associated with Alzheimer's disease may develop the disease three years earlier than expected"

• An October 16, 2013 New York Times article outlined advice about assisted living arrangements from Debra Drelich, a specialist in geriatric care.