July
25, 2007
MIKULSKI'S BILL ON ALZHEIMER'S EPIDEMIC PASSES KEY SENATE
COMMITTEE
Five-year delay in onset could
save Medicaid and Medicare $515 billion
each year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.),
Chairwoman of
the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee's
Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging, announced today that
the full HELP
Committee has approved The Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of
2007 (S.
898). This comprehensive legislation, co-sponsored by
Senator Kit Bond
(R-Mo.), has been a top legislative priority for Senator
Mikulski, and
takes a significant step in providing real relief for
patients and
families suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
"We are approaching an epidemic. A tsunami is on the
horizon. We may
know a lot about Alzheimer's disease, but it has been 100
years since it
was first diagnosed," said Senator Mikulski. "Only 10 years
after the
first diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, researchers discovered a
'cocktail' that is
now enabling people with AIDS to live productive lives. We
need this
same sense of urgency for Alzheimer's!"
The Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 2007 doubles funding for
Alzheimer's research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
from
$640 million to $1.3 billion. It will create a national
summit on
Alzheimer's to look at the most promising breakthroughs. The
bill also
creates a system for caregiver support that provides updated
news,
resources and tools for caregivers, families and physicians.
"Not only is this disease awful for the person living with
it and
devastating for the family caring for their loved one, but
it is
horrifying to think of the financial impact it will have for
our
country," said Senator Mikulski. "Last year, we spent $120
billion to
support people living with Alzheimer's. If we don't d o
something - it
could cost us $1 trillion a year by 2050."
Senator Mikulski has held three comprehensive hearings on
the
Alzheimer's epidemic since its introduction in March 2007.
The first
hearing examined the progress that has been made, and the
need for a
continued investment of federal resources in Alzheimer's
research and
programs. Witnesses included Harry Johns, President and CEO
of the
Alzheimer's Association, Dr. Marilyn Albert, Director of the
Division of
Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Neurology at
Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine and Co-Director of the Johns
Hopkins
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and Dr. Samuel Gandy,
Professor and
Director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences, Thomas
JeffersonUniversity and Chair of the Medical and Scientific
Advisory
Council of the Alzheimer's Association. Witness testimonies
are
available at:
http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=270936 .
The second hearing in the series highlighted ongoing
breakthroughs in
Alzheimer's research in the public and private sectors, and
the need
for
a greater federal investment. Witnesses at today's hearing
were: Dr.
Paul Aisen, MD, Professor of Neurology and Medicine and
Director of the
Georgetown Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown
University, Dr. Arthur
Kramer, Ph.D., Professor at University of Illinois
Departments of
Psychology and Neuroscience and Beckman Institute, Robert
Essner,
Chairman and CEO of Wyeth and J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D,
President and
CEO of Targacept Inc. Witness testimonies are available at:
http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=274258.
The third hearing featured an unprecedented roundtable with
Dr. Elias
Zerhouni, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
Dr.
Julie
Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
(CDC), Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Com mi ssioner of the Food
and Drug
Administration (FDA), and Dr. Richard Hodes, Director of the
National
Institute on Aging (NIA). The hearing focused on current
federal
Alzheimer's disease initiatives and programs, how to better
coordinate
federal efforts, and the facilitation of private and public
sector
partnerships. Witness testimonies are available at:
http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=279149.
The bill now goes to the Senate floor for a vote, which has
not yet
been scheduled.
B
y
CARLA K. JOHNSON
Associated Press
Writer
July 2, 2007
CHICAGO -- Difficulty
identifying common smells such as lemon, banana and
cinnamon may be the first sign of Alzheimer's
disease, according to a study that could lead to
scratch-and-sniff tests to determine a person's risk
for the progressive brain disorder.
Such tests could be
important if scientists find ways to slow or stop
Alzheimer's and the severe memory loss associated
with it. For now, there's no cure for the disease
that affects more than 5 million Americans.
Researchers have long
known that microscopic lesions considered the
hallmarks of Alzheimer's first appear in a brain
region important to the sense of smell.
"Strictly on the
basis of anatomy, yeah, this makes sense," said
Robert Franks, an expert on odor perception and the
brain at the University of Cincinnati. Franks was
not involved in the new study, appearing in Monday's
Archives of General Psychiatry.
Other studies have
linked loss of smell to Alzheimer's, Franks said,
but this is the first to measure healthy people's
olfactory powers and follow them for five years,
testing along the way for signs of mental decline.
In the study, 600
people between the ages of 54 and100 were asked to
identify a dozen familiar smells: onion, lemon,
cinnamon, black pepper, chocolate, rose, banana,
pineapple, soap, paint thinner, gasoline and smoke.
For each mystery
scent, they heard and saw a choice of four answers.
For cinnamon, they were asked aloud: "Fruit?
Cinnamon? Woody? Or coconut?" while also seeing the
choices in text.
A quarter of the
people correctly identified all the odors or missed
only one. Half of them knew at least nine of the 12.
The lowest-scoring quarter of the people correctly
identified eight or f ewer of the odors.
The subjects took 21
cognitive tests annually over the next five years.
About one-third of the people developed at least
mild trouble with memory and thinking.
The people who made
at least four errors on the odor test were 50
percent more likely to develop problems than people
who made no more than one error. Difficulty
identifying odors also was associated with a higher
risk of progressing from mild cognitive impairment
to Alzheimer's.
The researchers took
into account age, gender, education and a history of
strokes or smoking, and still found that lower
scores predicted higher risk of cognitive decline.
Lead author Robert
Wilson of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center
said a diminishing sense of smell isn't cause for
panic.
"Not all low scorers
went on to have cognitive problems," Wilson said.
Older people should report a loss in smell to their
doctors, said Claire Murphy, an Alzheimer's
researcher at
San Diego State
University who was not involved in the new study.
The problem could be caused by a polyp in the nose
or infected sinuses, she said.
"If a person is old
and has a very good sense of smell, that's a very
good sign," Murphy said.
The study was funded
by the National Institute on Aging and the Illinois
Department of Public Health.
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On the Net:
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