Alzheimer's Disease

Update one year later: April 2, 2017

So, what did America ultimately vote for when it comes to Alzheimer's Disease (and other medical research)? The original summary of where the candidates stood one year ago is included below, but recall that Clinton had pledged to invest the $2 billion a year that researchers have determined would create a cure by 2025. Trump had called it a total top priority, but provided no official plan.

We voted for Trump. So, what's the latest on Trump's "total top priority?"

On February 1, 2017, the Alzheimer's Foundation of America called on the Trump administration to increase annual spending on Alzheimer's research from one billion to two billion in order to find a meaningful treatment or cure by 2025.

By mid-March of 2017, Trump had released his first budget proposal. In it, he cuts 20% of the National Institutes of Health $30 billion dollar budget (5.8 billion dollars). Recall that the National Institutes of Health budget is less than 1% of the federal government's 3.7 trillion dollar budget and already underfunded. Additionally, recall that for every dollar the federal government spends on the costs of Alzheimer's care, it invests less than a penny in research to find a cure. (Full summary below.)

So, what did America ultimately vote for? We voted for a cut to medical research.


Originally posted on Facebook on Tuesday, March 29, 2016:

32 weeks from today, we will choose a new president for the United States of America and, inevitably, half the country will not respect our elected leader.  I keep thinking there has got to be a better way.  It seems that much of people's choice is due to how much they like or do not like a candidate and they couldn't really speak to their candidate's issues.  Additionally, a lot of energy is put into undermining and degrading the candidate they oppose.  This is not productive and will not keep us moving forward.

I value unity.  I believe that we are all one.  We are children of the same God.  I believe that the way we treat others is ultimately how we treat ourselves.  I reject any us vs. them mentality.  I long for a truly United States.

I value respect.  I believe you can support a candidate and engage in political discourse without name-calling or belittling a candidate or their supporters.

I value education.  I’m a teacher, after all.  I believe knowledge is power.  I value honesty and truth and I am always seeking it.

For the above reasons, I’d like to experiment with something.  I’d like to take an issue each week and just share where the current candidates stand on it.  The purpose is to educate, not necessarily persuade.  I want to create awareness of the actual issues and where the candidates stand.  Who knows if I will last to the election or if one of you reading this right now will ultimately cause me to give in and give up.  I just want to try it.

We’re all just a collection of our experiences and what we’ve been exposed to, so we can’t all possibly agree, but can we respect each other?  If we are called to comment, can we stick to facts, stick to the issue, and avoid name-calling?  Let’s see...

First Issue:  Alzheimer’s Disease

For every dollar the federal government spends on the costs of Alzheimer's care, it invests less than a penny in research to find a cure.

Yes, this is a political issue but not one you hear a lot of debate about.  The United States Health Department funds the National Institutes of Health as the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research.  The NIH’s budget is around 32 billion out of about a 3.7 trillion dollar national budget (less than 1%).

The 2016 spending bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama at the end of 2015 saw a 6.6% increase to the NIH’s budget which is the largest increase in 12 years (though it is still relatively underfunded).  The bill included 350 million in new spending for Alzheimer’s Disease research which was a 60% increase and over the amount Obama requested: 51 million.

So, medical research is a political issue.  Where do the candidates stand on it?  This is what I found in my research.  Feel free to supplement.

Cruz:  Has said that spending on research and development around treatments and cures for Alzheimer’s should dramatically increase, though he has not pinpointed by how much. (2/4/16)

Clinton: Invest 2 billion per year in Alzheimer’s (basically doubling the current allocation) and related disorders-the amount leading researchers have determined necessary to prevent and treat the disease and make a cure possible by 2025.  She wants to work with Congress to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Alert Program which had a 98 percent success rate in finding individuals reported missing. (12/2015)

Sanders:  Has blamed Republicans for cutting back on funding for scientific research overall.  I could not find his official stance. (12/2015)

Trump: Has called a total top priority for him. (12/2015)