As does the Trump administration major cuts has Federal health agenciesincluding National Health InstitutesSome Alzheimer’s experts are concerned about research for Impassable brain disease Being interrupted, which could have an impact on treatment options and the lives of patients and their families.
THE Alzheimer’s association said last week that two related programs had put the staff on administrative leave in the context of discounts: the Healthy cerebral initiativewhich aims to improve the understanding of brain health, and Build our greatest dementia (Fat) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s disease, which focuses on risk reduction as well as increased detection and diagnosis.
These programs “have a significant impact on the Americans every day,” the organization said in a statement, adding that the daring program, as well as other Alzheimer’s programs, were fair unanimously by congress last year.
The president and chief executive officer of the association, Joanne Pike, said that these public health programs were essential to those who treated Alzheimer’s disease and dementia across the country.
“Among other things, they ensure that people living with dementia, caregivers and health providers have the information, resources and support they need,” said Pike. “The programs remain intact, but the continuation of the path to the reduction of staff and resources could cause irreversible damage.”
According to the non -profit organization Alzheimer’s impact movementFederal Alzheimer’s Federal Funding represents up to $ 3.8 billion each year.
“A reduction in research funding means that we delay the development and refinement of treatments that could delay or prevent the onset of dementia symptoms, reduce quality of life and increase suffering for patients and families”, ” Jason KrellmanA clinical neuropsychologist and assistant professor at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told CBS News.
He says that it is a crucial moment for research on brain diseases, as drugs are under development that show potential to treat the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s rather than slowing down his symptoms.
“The financing cuts will surely reduce or even stop the progress that we are now starting to make remedies against Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions. This is particularly problematic because our population is growing more than ever and these diseases will therefore become much more widespread in the years to come,” he said.
The cuts could threaten “all the pipeline”
Lawrence Chernin, CEO and co-founder of Health DabbleA company -based company monitoring cognitive health, the financing cuts may leave potentially innovations that have changed their life. He and his team develop an application which, according to him, could give people a “cognitive score”, similar to health applications that give sleep scores – but other tests are necessary for scientific validation.
Despite promising data from a pilot study, Chernin said that traditional investors often considered tools like their “too early and too risky”.
“Government funding through NIH and SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) represents the only viable bridge in promising research for clinical validation,” he told CBS News, adding that his business recently asked for a SBIR subsidy.
“Frankly, without this funding, our company may not survive,” he said. “These NIH cups do not only threaten our business; they threaten all the pipeline of medical innovations at an early stage that could transform Alzheimer’s care.”
Sbir helps finance the National Institute for NIH Aging, which is almost $ 150 million in grants to small businesses every year. According to the Institute, this is the greatest source of financing at an early stage for research and development linked to aging, including interventions for Alzheimer’s disease.
And while Chernin admits that some people think that there is a lot of waste in public spending, he says “overall, it realizes so much” pierced in cancer researchFor example.
“Now cancer is not so terrible, in fact, in terms of disease scope like Alzheimer’s, because there are remedies for cancer,” he said.
Hoping for continuous support
Some, however, such as Dr. Joshua Hare, who is president and director of the Biotechnology Company sciences Longare optimistic. The company has just successfully completed a phase 2 study, published last month in Nature MedicineFor an Alzheimer’s drug they have developed.
“Obviously, we have a president who changes things in all areas of our life. … They want to cut funding and rationalize the NIH, it is clear, but I am not at all convinced that they are anti-health,” he told CBS News. Hare said he thought there will be more funding for areas in accordance with Make America healthy Initiative, secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s platform. Focus on chronic diseases, food additives and other priorities.
So, although there will be cuts in certain areas – Covid And Linked to dei Initiatives are Already struckFor example – Hare said he was not so worried that the search for Alzheimer’s be reduced.
“I cannot say that with certainty. I am not in government. I just listened to the testimony that the new director of NIH gave the congress in his confirmation hearings, and he specifically discussed the search for Alzheimer’s, and he specifically said that there were research paths for Alzheimer’s disease which are underfunded and deserve continuous funding. “”
His company previously received NIH funding for a test of non -Alzheimer’s pediatrics, while the Alzheimer’s association has fully financed the phase 1 trial for the Alzheimer de Longeveron medication, said Hare. “If we did not have this extraordinary funding from the Alzheimer and NIH association, the company could not have progressed where we are now.” He said the company remains “full of steam” to get his product to those who “need it as quickly as possible”.
Although the long -term impacts of the cuts remain blurred, Charles J. Fuschillo, JR, President and chief executive officer of the Alzheimer’s American Foundation, said in a statement to CBS News that bipartite cooperation is essential in the continuous fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are grateful that the federal decision -makers of the congress and the White House have worked together in a bipartite manner in the last decade to provide essential federal funding increases for the search for Alzheimer’s, and treated appropriately on Alzheimer’s disease as a growing public health crisis, not a political problem,” said the declaration. “Based on this progress is essential to ensure that we reach the arrival line of the search for a remedy against Alzheimer’s disease.”