As many as 5.1 million Americans have
Alzheimer's disease and that number is likely to double in the coming years. On
January 4, 2011, President Obama signed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) which required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) to establish a National Alzheimer’s Project to:
· Create and maintain
an integrated national plan to overcome Alzheimer’s disease.
· Coordinate
Alzheimer’s disease research and services across all federal agencies.
· Accelerate the
development of treatments that would prevent, halt, or reverse the course of Alzheimer’s
disease.
· Improve early
diagnosis and coordination of care and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
· Improve outcomes for
ethnic and racial minority populations that are at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
· Coordinate with
international bodies to fight Alzheimer’s globally.
The law also established the Advisory Council
on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services and required the Secretary of HHS,
in collaboration with the Advisory Council, to create and maintain a national
plan to overcome Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
After releasing a preliminary plan and reviewing comments, the Council released the full plan details on May 15th. The national plan to fight Alzheimer’s is
aimed at finding ways to prevent and effectively treat the disease by 2025. It
outlines a series of initiatives to reach that goal, including increased
research funding, more resources for caregivers and greater public awareness
about the neurologic disorder.
For physicians and other health
professionals, the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to bolster
education efforts on identifying and caring for Alzheimer’s patients, increase
support for geriatric training programs and broadly disseminate guidelines on
caring for dementia patients. HHS has also launched a website to serve as a
one-stop shop for caregivers and others seeking information about Alzheimer’s.
The initiatives announced on May 15th include:
1. Research -- The
funding of new research projects by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
will focus on key areas in which emerging technologies and new approaches in
clinical testing now allow for a more comprehensive assessment of the disease.
This research holds considerable promise for developing new and targeted
approaches to prevention and treatment. Specifically, two major clinical trials
are being funded. One is a $7.9 million effort to test an insulin nasal spray
for treating Alzheimer's disease. A second study, toward which NIH is
contributing $16 million, is the first prevention trial in people at the
highest risk for the disease.
2. Tools for Clinicians
-- The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded $2 million in
funding through its geriatric education centers to provide high-quality
training for doctors, nurses, and other health care providers on recognizing
the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and how to manage the disease.
3. Easier access to
information to support caregivers -- HHS' new website, www.alzheimers.gov,
offers resources and support to those facing Alzheimer's disease and their
friends and family. The site is a gateway to reliable, comprehensive
information from federal, state, and private organizations on a range of
topics. Visitors to the site will find plain language information and tools to
identify local resources that can help with the challenges of daily living,
emotional needs, and financial issues related to dementia. Video interviews
with real family caregivers explain why information is key to successful
caregiving, in their own words.
4. Awareness campaign --
The first new television advertisement encouraging caregivers to seek
information at the new website has been debuted. This media campaign will be
launched in earnest this summer, with the hope of reaching family members and
patients in need of information on Alzheimer's disease.
Although these steps are encouraging,the funding seems miniscule to this
writer in comparison with the costs of the disease and
inadequate to reach the goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s
by 2025. I also worry about what will happen to even this limited funding as
Congress eventually is forced to deal with constrained government resources and
the “fiscal cliff” that is looming at the end of this year. Hopefully the
above initiatives will at least raise public awareness and the willingness to talk
about this devastating disease.
Here are some links of note:
National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease
Full HTML Version http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/napa/NatlPlan.shtml
Full PDF Version http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/napa/NatlPlan.pdf
(69 PDF pages)
PRESS RELEASE: Obama Administration Presents National
Plan to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease
Full HTML Version http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/napa/PR-051512.htm
Full PDF Version http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/napa/PR-051512.pdf
(2 PDF pages)
New Alzheimer's Website
3 comments:
Alzheimer's disease has a tremendous impact at any age. With new treatment its more important than ever that you recognize early symptoms and get help as soon as possible.
Alzheimer Clinic
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