USA2 SPOTLIGHT 

A May 15, 2015 Latin Post article profiled the work of LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's and reported on the disproportionate impact Alzheimer’s has on the Latino community. According to the article, “"It's time to raise the profile of Alzheimer's in the Latino community. Right now, Alzheimer's disease isn't thought of an urgent health issue within the community. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity... these are all really seen as urgent issues within the Latino community, but Alzheimer's, for the longest time, has fallen by the wayside," Jason Resendez, Director of LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's, part of USAgainstAlzheimer's, said to Latin Post. "We're coming together to coordinate a strategy to change that perception. And that starts with looking at the issue itself, and how Latinos perceive that issue. One of the biggest obstacles when it comes to raising awareness of the disease within the community is the stigma that Alzheimer's has within the Latino community. So, that's one of the main things that we're working on, trying to de-stigmatize Alzheimer's." According to Resendez, the involvement of recognizable organizations like LULAC helps to de-stigmatize and demystify the disease.”

MUST READS

A May 15, 2015 Forbes opinion piece by Bernard Munos called for greater investment in higher-risk, higher-value research projects to beat diseases like Alzheimer’s. According to Munos, “One can understand caution, but, as with all well-managed investments, a small percentage of the funds should be directed at higher-risk, higher-value projects. The first draft of the 21st Century Cures Act had a provision that would have allowed NCATS to spend up to $100 million – approximately 0.33% of NIH’s budget – on such projects. Sadly, this was taken out of the current draft, perhaps at the request of grantees who feared that change might endanger their funding. This is unfortunate and should be reversed. Solving the tough problems we face, like moderating healthcare spending or stemming the Alzheimer’s crisis, cannot be done by improving or optimizing what we are doing – or else it would have been done long ago. We need new thinking and breakthroughs that dramatically boost innovation and reduce its cost. Those advances may already be sketched in some young scientists’ minds, but they need funding to proceed.”

A May 14, 2015 New York Times feature profiled Sandy Bem’s journey with Alzheimer’s and her decision to take her own life because of the disease. According to the article, “When Sandy went back to the waiting room to meet Daryl, she was weeping uncontrollably. Between sobs, she explained the diagnosis and the inevitable decline on the horizon. She felt terror at the prospect of becoming a hollowed-­out person with no memory, mind or sense of identity, as well as fury that she was powerless to do anything but endure it. With Alzheimer’s disease, she would write, it is “extraordinarily difficult for one’s body to die in tandem with the death of one’s self.” That day at Mapstone’s office, she vowed that she would figure out a way to take her own life before the disease took it from her.”

A May 14, 2015 MedPage Today opinion piece by the CEOs of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Diabetes Association, and the Alzheimer’s Association urged Congress to invest in NIH. According to the authors, “As we have seen with other diseases, medical research for Alzheimer's is not only the key to improving millions of lives, but also to saving trillions of dollars in a healthcare system that policymakers and practitioners are struggling to make less costly and more efficient. Cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes -- and many other diseases -- impact our lives every day. Our nation is at a crossroads, yet the path forward is clear. Investment in NIH should not be a political issue. Congress must renew its commitment to the NIH and put medical research funding back on track. It is an issue of life or death for millions of Americans now and in the future.”

A May 14, 2015 USA Today article highlighted the new problems and hopes associated with longer lifespans. According to the article, “For the last 160 years, the average human life span has increased by roughly one year every four years. The upward trend is amazingly consistent, defying epidemics, famines and two world wars. While some scientists believe that the trend cannot continue indefinitely, few are prepared to bet against it, including Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging…Assuming life expectancy continues to lengthen, lawmakers the world over will have to figure out how to deal with and support a graying population. According to the World Health Organization, the global population over 60 has doubled since 1980. The WHO estimates that, within a few years, the number of adults over the age of 65 will overtake the number of children under the age of 5. With these changes come concerns that Boomers will stay at their jobs longer — making it harder for younger workers to find well-paid jobs — and effectively cripple costly government benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare.”

RESEARCH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY 

A May 14, 2015 Forbes article reported that The Allen Institute for Brain Science launched a new database called the Allen Cell Types Database, marking “a major step towards creating a comprehensive map of the human brain.” According to the article, “The Allen Cell Types Database contains information about 240 neurons found in the brains of mice—cells that are similar to those in the human brain. That data includes information about the neurons’ electrical activity and “morphology,” or shape, as well as their location. The idea is for scientists to use the data to understand how normal brains work, which in turn might help them to solve diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. And it’s not just diseases of cognition that the Allen Institute wants to help cure: The foundation simultaneously released an update to its Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas Project, a tool that provides detailed genetic information about one of the brain’s deadliest cancers.”

A May 14, 2015 The New York Times article reported that “The federal government opened the door to a new era of genetic medicine on Thursday by introducing a standard way to ensure the accuracy of DNA tests used to tailor treatments for individual patients.” According to the article, “Scientists have identified hundreds of genetic mutations that appear to increase the risk of diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and cystic fibrosis. But laboratories often report different results when they analyze genes obtained from samples of the same blood or tissue, because of variations in their testing equipment and methods. The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Thursday that it had developed “reference materials” that could be used by laboratories to determine whether their machines and software were properly analyzing a person’s genetic blueprint, or genome.”