June 04, 2013
Today's Top Alzheimer's News
Sen. Mikulski advocates against sequestration and House Majority Leader Eric Canter wants more research funding (read more)
Must reads
- A June 4, 2013 Associated Press (via the Times-Standard) article highlighted the struggles that Alzheimer's caregivers face. According to the article, "Studies show that caregivers of people with Alzheimer's have shorter life spans than other caregivers, said George Vradenburg, co-founder of USAgainstAlzheimers, a nonprofit organization advocating Alzheimer's treatment. On average, patients live four to eight years after an Alzheimer's diagnosis, but they can live up to 20 years, experts say."
- A June 3, 2013 Stars & Stripes opinion piece by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) highlighted the negative impact of sequestration on a range of vital issues like medical research. According to Sen. Mikulski, "As the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am deeply concerned that the American people do not fully understand the long-term effects of cutting $984 billion in spending over 10 years through sequestration. I fear that we are getting so far in the weeds, with our focus on meat inspectors or air traffic controllers, that we are losing sight of the real issues. Here are a few questions about what the sequester will mean over the next decade…If we know that patients with dementia will consume an ever-larger share of our health care costs, is this the time to cut back on basic medical research?"
- A June 3, 2013 RollCall.com article reported "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is calling for medical research to gain precedence over some other issues, as Congress tries to balance competing priorities with limited dollars." According to the article, "In an interview, Cantor said his interest in medical research partly comes from watching his father suffer for more than a decade from a rare neurological disorder known as multiple system atrophy or Shy-Drager syndrome."
Research and science
- A June 3, 2013 The Herald (CA) article reported on the importance of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute's Alzheimer's Prevention Registry. According to the initiative's associate director Jessica Langbaum, "They become part of a community that gets the latest news on Alzheimer's prevention and, as study opportunities become available, they can find out how to get involved if they want to…This model has been done for breast cancer really well. They are able to fill a research study that used to take a year to recruit for in a month now...We need the same thing for Alzheimer's disease research and it's a tool for researchers across the country. We don't anticipate everybody will want to participate in studies, but there is power in numbers."