National Alzheimer’s Combat Plan Issued

A comprehensive plan to establish effective treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's Disease in America by 2025 is now in circulation, issued this week by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services.

The plan stems from the groundbreaking National Alzheimer's Project Act crafted by Congressmen Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Democrat Ed Markey (D-Mass), enacted in 2010.

Since that time, a panel of Republicans and Democrats accumulated testimony from families throughout the country who face the emotional, physical and financial hardships of Alzheimer's every day. One hearing took place in 2011 in Monmouth County.

In a statement, Smith characterized the strategy as "a great testament to what can be accomplished when members of Congress from both sides of the aisle work together in bipartisanship."

Smith says that the next critical hurdle is funding. He pegged the cost of treating Alzheimer's in America at $140,000,000,000, just in 2011.  He predicts that without sustainable funding, care and prevention will consume a combined $800,000,000,000 from Medicare and Medicaid by 2050.

See the details at http://www.alzheimers.gov.

Current figures indicate that more than 150,000 people in New Jersey, and almost 5,500,000 nationwide, are afflicted with the disease that erodes thinking, reasoning and memory. Alzheimer's now ranks as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and the only one of the 10 leading causes with no means of curbing, prevention or cure.

Several similar pieces of legislation in which Smith took a lead role are still in discussion. The Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act (HR1897) would identify and support potentially pioneering research.

The Health Outcomes, Planning and Education (HOPE) Act (HR1386), co-authored with Markey, aims to foster early detection and proactive treatment.

They also collaborated on the Spending Reductions through Innovations In Therapies (SPRINT) Act (HR3891), which would enable public-private partnerships to fund research for drug and other treatments for Alzheimer's and other cost-intensive conditions.