National Plan to Combat Alzheimer’s Unveiled

This month, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius announced an initial draft of the federal government’s strategic plan to combat Alzheimer’s disease. With the disease  “expected to afflict at least 11 million US citizens by 2050,” Congress passed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act in 2010 calling on the government to create a national plan.  The advisory group in charge of advising Secretary Sibelius is made up of doctors, patients, researchers, health organizations and state and federal employees. Their final plan is expected to be published in May and is required to be updated every year. In its initial draft, the group laid out their (or is it three) goals for the national plan to “slow the progression, delay the onset and ultimately prevent the now-incurable disease” by 2020.

There is already very promising research underway, particularly with PET (positron emission tomography) imaging. A study published in the Archives of Neurology found that PET “may help identify findings in brain tissue associated with Alzheimer’s disease.” Innovative new PET imaging agents are under development that have the promise of early diagnosis, which will help facilitate research into Alzheimer’s disease drug treatments.