By LAURAN
NEERGAARD | Associated Press – Tue, Feb 7, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Obama administration is increasing spending on Alzheimer's research —
planning to surpass half a billion dollars next year — as part of a quest to
find effective treatments for the brain-destroying disease by 2025.
In a two-part plan
announced Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health immediately will devote an
extra $50 million dementia research, on top of the $450 million a year it
currently spends. The boost opens the possibility that at least one stalled
study of a possible therapy might get to start soon.
Next week, President Barack
Obama will ask Congress for $80 million in new money to spend for
Alzheimer's research in 2013.
"The science of
Alzheimer's disease has reached a very interesting juncture," with
promising new findings to pursue after years of false starts, NIH Director
Dr. Francis Collins told The Associated Press. "We would love to be
able to come up with a way of bringing forward an even larger amount of
support."
Patient advocates
have long said the nation's spending on Alzheimer's research is far too little
considering the disease's current and coming toll. More than 5 million people
already have Alzheimer's or related dementias, a number that, barring a medical
breakthrough, is expected to more than double by 2050 because of the aging
population. By then, the medical and nursing home bills are projected to cost
$1 trillion annually.
At a meeting last
month, some of the government's own Alzheimer's advisers said it could take a
research investment of as much as $2 billion a year to make a real impact.
"Our country cannot afford not to make these commitments,"
Alzheimer's Association President Harry Johns told that meeting.
For comparison, the
government spends nearly $3 billion on AIDS research; about 1.1 million
Americans are living with the AIDS virus.
But Tuesday,
advocates praised the administration for making a needed down payment
in tough economic times.
"This is a
positive step forward. It's going to take additional steps on the journey
that's going to get us to the end of this," Johns said.
"There is no
doubt that there is commitment that needs to be applauded here," added
Eric J. Hall, president of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.
The move is part of
the administration's development of the first National Alzheimer's Plan, to
combine research toward better treatments — the goal is to have some by 2025 —
along with steps to help overwhelmed families better cope today. In addition to
the biomedical research, the administration said it will propose spending $26
million for other goals of the still-to-be-finalized plan, including caregiver
support.
"Reducing the
burden of Alzheimer's disease on patients and their families is an urgent
national priority," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
said.
Given the nation's
fiscal problems, it's not clear what the chances are in Congress for a boost in
next year's Alzheimer's funding.
But for this year,
Collins said Alzheimer's is such a priority that the NIH will shift some of its
budget from other research areas to eke out an extra $50 million right away.
Among his examples:
Some cutting-edge gene-mapping will be directed to concentrate on uncovering
the genetics of Alzheimer's, including what protects the brains of some people
in dementia-prone families. Collins also said he will determine whether the
extra money is enough to start some clinical trials that otherwise would have
to wait, including one to test whether an intranasal form of insulin might
reach and protect the brain cells of people with early dementia symptoms.
0 comments:
Post a Comment