Opinion: Like Nixon’s ‘war on cancer,’ President Trump should open a war on Alzheimer’s

Re-Posted from STAT News By George Vradenburg and Howard M. Fillit “The time has come in America when the same kind of concerted effort that split the atom and took man to the moon should be turned toward conquering this dread disease.” That was President Nixon in his State of the Union address 48 years ago. The dread disease he was talking about was cancer, the second leading cause of death in the country, and he used the address to open his “war on cancer.” Since then, we have made major strides against that disease. Death rates have been declining

Opinion: The Importance of Productive ‘Failure’ on the Path to Curing Alzheimer’s

Re-Posted from Modern Consult The path to success is paved with failure. Some of the world’s most successful enterprises have achieved breakthrough accomplishments by promoting creativity and risk in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. Those searching for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease — researchers, companies, patients, caregivers, regulators, government, and private funders of research — have experienced several high-profile recent setbacks. However, finding a cure for Alzheimer’s will require more frequent and bold “failure” of this kind. More than 5 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, putting a crushing burden on more than 16 million family caregivers. As 74 million

Giving Patients a Much-Needed Voice in Alzheimer’s Research

Alzheimer’s is a disease that progresses slowly through its six stages, gradually robbing patients of their memories and abilities while placing great burdens on their caregivers. And as the global population rapidly ages and the number of those with this lengthy and cruel disease increases, the need to find and deliver Alzheimer’s treatments and cures has never been more urgent. The question we face is: How do we direct limited resources to accelerate rapid development, testing and regulatory approval of new treatments, while making sure those treatments provide what patients and their caregivers actually want? The answer is surprisingly simple

Recap: Research in Action at the UsA2 Tokyo Scientific Roundtable

Last week, ResearchersAgainstAlzheimer’s co-hosted the Alzheimer’s Scientific Roundtable at the University of Tokyo in Japan, which brought together some of the best and brightest minds engaged in the global battle against this dreaded disease. Our hope is that this meeting will spur the Japanese government to make dementia a central theme of its 2019 G20 leadership. Anyone who has dealt with Alzheimer's knows the terrible toll it takes on patients and their families. I watched in horror as my wife’s brilliant, vibrant, extraordinary mother disappeared into the disease in the early 1990s.Let me take a minute to explain why this

At Least Alzheimer's Research Is Bringing Washington Together

This op-ed originally appear in The Hill newspaper on February 15, 2018. In an era of extreme partisanship, there is one issue that continues to inspire collaboration and even comradery among members of both parties: the fight to stop Alzheimer’s. Click here to continue reading.