USA2 SPOTLIGHT  

A June 25, 2015 USAgainstAlzheimer’s statement applauded Senate committee language in the FY2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Bill, which contains a $350 million increase for the National Institute on Aging as part of an overall $2 billion bump for the entire National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to George Vradenburg, “We’re grateful to the Senate Appropriation’s Committee and for Chairman Blunt for taking this important step today.  It demonstrates the strong bipartisan and bicameral support behind a meaningful increase in Alzheimer’s research funding – a rare feat these days. We are thankful to have several Alzheimer’s champions on the committee including Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski and Senators Susan Collins, Jerry Moran, Barbara Mikulski, Shelly Moore Capito and Bill Cassidy, and we look forward to working with all of them to move this forward.”

A June 25, 2015 CNN opinion piece by USAgainstAlzheimer’s co-founder Trish Vradenburg and WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s President Jill Lesser outlined why women should worry about Alzheimer’s. According to the authors, “But one aspect of this debilitating disease is only just beginning to register: Alzheimer's disproportionately affects women. Early this month, an important new global study on Women and Dementia was released. The findings are significant and clear: Women are at higher risk for developing dementia and comprise the lion's share of dementia caregivers…We need more research on how the disease affects women. In terms of support for women, we need greater availability and affordability of services and better information about how to access services. And lastly, we need to mobilize the power of women to demand a bold and innovative path to curing to Alzheimer's. Together, perhaps we can bring this disease out of the shadows and stop Alzheimer's disease by 2020.” Reposted by Kesq.com.

MUST READS 

A June 26, 2015 The Wall Street Journal opinion piece Dr. Vincent T. Marchesi underscored why amyloid research is “too compelling to ignore.” According to Dr. Marchesi, “Failed clinical trials of anti-amyloid therapies are certainly disappointing, but they hardly rule out amyloid as a contributing factor. Despite three decades of research, we still lack a clear understanding of how and when amyloid does its damage, yet the evidence linking amyloid to dementia is too compelling to ignore…Moreover, there is no reason to doubt the ability of the present system of government and foundation support of university-based research (with industry collaborations) to deal with what will soon be a catastrophic challenge to health-care systems throughout the world.” Dr. Vincent T. Marchesi is director of the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine at Yale University. 

A June 25, 2015 People Magazine profile of Glen Campbell offered an intimate glimpse inside Glen Campbell’s battle with Alzheimer’s, including his “good and bad days at this memory-care community.” According to the article, “Four years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Glen Campbell rarely recognizes his loved ones and can no longer play music or carry a conversation, but the country legend is still very much Glen Campbell.”

A June 25, 2015 CNN article and video highlighted the personal nature of Dr. Rudy Tanzi’s fight to cure Alzheimer’s. According to the article, “His beloved paternal grandmother was becoming increasingly confused. It was soon suspected she had Alzheimer's. ‘It's amazing how as a scientist you become so much more inspired to solve that disease and to work harder and faster by seeing that disease eye to eye, especially in a loved one,’ Tanzi said. His grandmother quickly went from being friendly and doting to someone who sat stonefaced, unable to recognize her family. He says often he will invite families who have relatives struggling with the disease to talk with his students at Harvard.”

POLITICS AND POLICY 

A June 25, 2015 The Scientists article reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a $150 billion bill that includes a $350 million increase to the National Institute of Aging. According to the article, “The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is on its way to receiving its largest funding increase since 2003 thanks to the approval of two draft bills by panels in the House of Representatives and the Senate this week. Although the House panel approved a budget that falls $900 million short of the Senate panel’s $2 billion raise, both bills exceed President Obama’s request to bring the $30.1 billion budget up by 3.3 percent.” Also reported on by The Hill.

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

A June 25, 2015 The San Diego Union-Tribune article reported that the University of Southern California is starting an Alzheimer’s institute in San Diego. According to the article, “Prominent UC San Diego Alzheimer's researcher Paul Aisen has left a major Alzheimer's disease study and taken another role in San Diego -- with the University of Southern California. Aisen has been named founding director of the newly established USC Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute, affiliated with USC's Keck School of Medicine but located in San Diego. Its mission is to accelerate development of effective Alzheimer's therapies, Aisen said Thursday.”

A June 25, 2015 MIT News article reported that the Glenn Foundation pledged $2 million “to establish a new center for the study of aging that incorporates research initiatives in the Department of Biology, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.”

A June 24, 2015 Health Canal article reported that “Doctors at the Keck School of Medicine of USC are calling on Southern Californians to join the Brain Health Registry, an Internet-based health registry, and help find cures for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and depression.”

CAREGIVING

A June 25, 2015 AARP Take Care blog post highlighted caregiving expert Amy Goyer’s “guide to staying sane.” According to Goyer, “Remembering why I’m doing this: I stop and consciously focus on the reason I am a caregiver: deep love and a sense of responsibility. I don’t have to be doing this — no one does — but I choose to be here in this role at this time in my life. I realize I’m doing the right thing for me, and that makes the craziness fade in importance.” Amy Goyer is AARP’s family, caregiving and multigenerational issues expert. She spends most of her time in Phoenix,  where she is caregiving for her dad, who lives with her.