Madrid !

Jacob Madrid

English 121

Mrs. Litle

3 December 2018

Forgetting About Alzheimer’s

Over 45% of American’s over the age of 85 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (“10”). This

destructive illness burdening our elders should be diligently researched for the wellbeing of our

society. It should be, but surprisingly enough it isn’t. Alzheimer’s is one of the deadliest, least

funded, and most highly ignored illnesses science has known. Scientific advances today have led

to many medical breakthroughs and cures; with proper funding, Alzheimer’s can be the next

ailment healed.

Alzheimer’s disease was first diagnosed in 1906 and has been harming millions around

the globe since. This disease attacks its victims’ minds, and gradually worsens over time.

Eventually, once the patient has lost their ability to remember or think, they also lose their ability

to perform elementary tasks. The deterioration of the brain, along with the disease’s incurable

nature, is the reason that Alzheimer’s is the sixth deadliest disease in the United States.

Symptoms include short and long term memory loss, mood swings, and speaking barriers. This is

due to amyloid plaques (clumping) and neurofibrillary tangles (tangled fibers) in the brain

(“Alzheimer’s”). This is a deadly disease that feeds off of one’s most crucial entities, their

identity. Alzheimer’s is just as prominent around the world today as it was one hundred years ago

due to researchers still being unable to determine any causes or possible treatments. Science has

evolved, so why hasn’t our understanding on Alzheimer’s grown as well?

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Funding is crucial in terms of curing or even comprehending illnesses. Though cancer

and heart disease are just barely leading in death tolls, their funding in research is nearly four

times than that of Alzheimer’s. Projects that are well funded have a much higher chance of

understanding the disease and all of its factors. For example, cancer research has gone from

increased from $5.4 billion to $5.5 billion (“NIH”). Due to this generosity, there has obviously

been a larger understanding of the disease, along with a range of treatments and some cures

compared to Alzheimer’s. Without such funding, not enough research can be done to get

anywhere near a solution. Alzheimer’s especially is the least funded yet most expensive disease

to research. With merely $449 million to research, perform trials, and all extra dues, there’s no

wonder why so little has been done to assimilate more information about this disease (“NIH”).

This is why scientist have yet to determine a cause, factors that might contribute to the

development of the disease, or a cure. It has been proven that no matter how hard researchers try,

they cannot combat a disease that they don’t even know.

Though there are thousands of dollars donated to Alzheimer’s research, it is simply not

enough. Medically funded programs are often successful when awarded a grant from the

government to specifically benefit the cause. Alzheimer’s does not receive such grants due to the

riskiness of running trials. Since the disease’s symptoms appear slowly and escalate quickly, it is

hard to run the lengthy tests needed to fully understand what is going on within that brain. To put

this into better perspective, the majority of patients go about 20 years without realizing they are

suffering from the disease. This means that the possible treatments won’t help because the

cognitive function is too far developed, so finding eligible participants for any clinical trials is

difficult (“Why”). This is a huge risk factor for investors that many aren’t willing to take
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(Increase). Though this is a pricey cause, studies have predicted that the government would be

better off investing money into treatment and prevention now, rather than having to provide

medicare for the disease- expected to grow rapidly- by midcentury. Alzheimer’s is definitely an

expensive investment, especially because there is such a lack of genuine understanding that

scares funding agencies away. However, being able to cure or even prevent Alzheimer’s in the

future can save the country itself trillions of dollars that would ultimately be spent on care

through national medical benefit programs (Golde). There is definitely a lot of pros and cons

when it comes to funding this cause, but this is a disease that deserves just as much dedication as

the rest.

Many may argue that researchers are doing all they can, and the odds are simply not in

their favor. From pharmaceutical droughts to trial failures there has been little to no

breakthroughs for this disease in the past decade (“The”). Though we must acknowledge the

difficulty and uncertainty of any pioneered research, it is obvious that the war against

Alzheimer’s is lacking vital resources. Most researchers for other diseases are about ten steps

ahead of Alzheimer’s because they know the origin of the illness. Without the funding or effort

put into a thorough investigation, scientists are getting nowhere in their fight to end this ruthless

ailment. Alzheimer’s Disease is not getting little funding and attention, but it is not a little

disease. This is a life altering malady for the patients and caregivers that is only going to

multiply in the coming years.

Medical advances today have led to unbelievable treatments to some of the most invasive

and destructive diseases in the world. We have overcome so much, yet so little. Alzheimer’s

disease is a killer of cognitive functions and is slowly becoming one of the most common
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diseases. Funding for this disease must be improved to provide safety and overall quality of life

for those facing Alzheimer’s now and in the future.

“10 Surprising Facts about Alzheimer's.” HeadStuff, 15 Oct. 2015, www.headstuff.org/topical/

science/10-surprising-facts-about-alzheimers/. Accessed 23 Nov. 2018.

“Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet.” National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet#treating.

Increase Funding for Alzheimer's Research | Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Association,

act.alz.org/site/Advocacy?alertId=1271&pg=makeACall.

Golde, Todd E, et al. “Right Size Funding for Alzheimer's Disease.” National Center for

Biotechnology Information, BioMed Central, 6 May 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

articles/PMC3226306/.

“NIH Categorical Spending -NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (REPORT).”

National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx.
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“The Diseases We Aren't Curing-And Why.” Fortune, Fortune, fortune.com/2018/02/06/the-

diseases-we-arent-curing-and-why/.

“Why Has Research into Alzheimer's Disease Been So Hard? – Innovation.org.” Innovation.org,

innovation.org/diseases/neurological/alzheimers/why-has-research-into-alzheimers-

disease-been-so-hard.