Support investment in Alzheimer’s research and care
At a time when more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, including over 280,000 in PA, prioritizing how this devastating disease is addressed remains a critical issue for our country.
I see how devasting this disease is by the financial, physical, and emotional toll on family members caring for a loved one with dementia. There were over 642,000,000 hours of unpaid caregiving in 2021. This is just in PA. And 62% of these caregivers have chronic health issues themselves.
Nationally, more than 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. In 2021, these caregivers provided an estimated 16 billion hours of care valued at nearly $272 billion. Caregivers of dementia patients experience higher levels of depression and anxiety than care givers of non-dementia patients. Caregivers to patients with AD have been shown to have higher rates of stress, physical ailments, increased cardiovascular disease, and weakened immune systems, and poor sleep.
Much progress has been made in the fight against Alzheimer’s over the last decade thanks in large part to the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) and the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act (AAA). With NAPA and AAA set to expire in 2025, updated legislation is critically needed by people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.
The NAPA Reauthorization Act would continue the work of the National Plan to build on the progress made in research, clinical and long-term care and public awareness. The legislation emphasizes the importance of healthy aging and risk reduction for Alzheimer’s disease to reflect the new sixth goal of the National Plan. Importantly, this legislation also underscores and seeks to help address health disparities among underrepresented populations, including those here in PA.
The Alzheimer’s Accountability Act, which was enacted in 2014, required the scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to submit an annual Alzheimer’s research budget proposal directly to Congress outlining the resources that scientists need to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act will make this annual research budget proposal a permanent requirement from NIH scientists, ensuring Congress is equipped with the best information to determine necessary Alzheimer’s research funding levels each year.
With continued investment, scientists will be able to work at a more rapid pace to advance basic disease knowledge, explore ways to reduce risk, uncover new biomarkers for early diagnosis and drug targeting, and develop potential treatments. By 2025 it is expected that there will be a 14.3% increase of people over the age of 65 with Alzheimer’s dementia. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s dementia in the US may grow to a projected 12.7 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent, slow or cure Alzheimer’s disease.
Please join me and the Alzheimer’s Association in encouraging our representatives in Congress to address the critical national public health challenge that Alzheimer’s poses by supporting the NAPA Reauthorization Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act.