You can help by writing Congress now and telling them it’s time to action on this mounting public health threat.  Ask your members of Congress to:

1.  To pass the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act which will authorize $2 billion in research to Alzheimer’s Disease.

2.  To pass the Alzheimer’s Detection, Diagnosis, Care, and Planning Act which will help families get an early diagnosis and better care.

3.  To pass the National Alzheimer’s Project Act which will create a strategic federal plan to deal with the Alzheimer’s threat.

The condensed version is that while it’s  know throughout the scientific community that glutamate plays a role in diseases like Alzheimer’s, no one previously understood the complexity of its structure.  Mapping the structure is step one in gaining a better understanding of Alzheimer’s and potentially creating new therapies.  This is also an example of the kind of research that NIH funding allows scientists to perform and why it’s so imperative that we support encourage our Congressional leaders to back the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act.  While there’s still a long way to go in understanding Alzheimer’s, it’s exciting to see innovative research like this happening right here.

There’s never been a more important time to engage in the cause.  While death rates from other diseases have been decreasing nationally, deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s are dramatically increasing. 

Major cause of death statistic changes from 2000-2006 look like this:

• Heart disease deaths decreased by -11.5%
• Breast cancer deaths decreased by -.6%
• Prostate cancer deaths decreased by -14.3%
• Stroke deaths decreased by -18.1%
• Alzheimer’s deaths increased by 47.1%

Memory Walk is a fun and easy way to rally together and shed much needed light on this growing public health threat.  On Sunday, September 27th we need to paint Portland purple.  Grab a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or classmate and join us at Pioneer Courthouse Square. 

On top of purple people we need dollars too.  The reason that other causes of death are decreasing is simple:  money.  When we as a nation invest in research, major gains are made.  Alzheimer’s research is currently underfunded, as are programs and services that help to support families and caregivers of those with the disease.  I understand that times are tight these days, but every dollar counts.  Consider forgoing your daily coffee fix or recycling a stack of soda cans.  We’ll gladly take your change!

Shameless plugs for spare change and two hours of your Sunday morning aside, I’d sincerely like to thank all of you who’ve participated in the past.  Even if it’s a simple as forwarding an email or passing along this blog post, every action helps.

Congress has introduced the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act.  This unprecedented legislation calls for increasing Alzheimer’s research funding by $2 billion!  The Alzheimer’s Association needs advocates to push Congress to pass this groundbreaking legislation.  Click here to urge your member of Congress to support this legislation.  Then, take one more step and encourage your friends and family to do the same.  Just think, you’ll be able to say you were part of the debate and hopefully part of the solution.

[singlepic id=135 w=150 h=150 float=]Carafe hosted the inaugural Food for Thought event with chef Pascal Sauton, chef Earl Hook of Meriwether’s, and chef Troy Maclarty.  Who knew that eating well would taste so good?  From fresh fava beans with feta on bruschetta to grilled halibut and chickpea puree the fare was light and luscious. 

[singlepic id=134 w=150 h=150 float=]The evening was a lovely mix of palate pleasing fare and stimulating conversation.  What I particularly loved about it was just the event itself.  In the world of Alzheimer’s there’s little pleasure to be found.  The event offered an opportunity for people to come out in support of the cause in a new and positive way.  It was such a success that the board is hoping to host another Food for Thought this November.

I’m all lit up from the Public Policy Forum.   More posts to follow about our federal priorities for 2009 and congressional visits, but first I want to focus on the energy of the event.  Given today’s economic climate I was shocked to learn that over 600 Alzheimer’s advocates attended this year’s Forum.  What you might not know is that the vast majority of advocates are volunteers who pay their own way and take time away from work and families to travel to Washington DC.  The fact that 600 people were willing to make such a commitment in times of tight budgets and layoffs certainly sends a message.  I was even more thrilled that five volunteer advocates from the state of Oregon joined me at the Forum–that translated into a volunteer for each congressional district in the state!  Nola Roid (pictured second from right) exemplifies the definition of an advocate.  She is caring from both her husband and brother who have early onset of the disease.  She paid her way to Washington by raising funds at bake sales and auctioning off donated Blazer tickets. 

From the somber energy at the candlelight vigil to the frenetic energy of a day on the Hill the experience of so many people with a shared vision and mission is magical.  It’s impossible not to be touched.  Maria Shriver, who is using her position as First Lady and celebrity to spotlight Alzheimer’s disease, said that her staff told she didn’t need to attend the candlelight vigil at the Lincoln Memorial.  Her response was that the vigil was the place she needed to be.  That anyone who has walked the path of Alzheimer’s wants to pave a new way for those behind us.

Maria was also in DC to promote her upcoming documentary on HBO The Alzheimer’s Project.   The documentary will air May 10-12th.  I caught a sneak peak at the Forum and I can say without reservation there was not a dry eye in the audience.  It’s an incredible look at the Alzheimer’s experience.  I’ll keep you posted about special viewings in the Portland area, and for those of you who don’t subscribe to HBO you can download for free via their Web site.

Coupled with last week’s announcement to increase general funding to the NIH, Obama is staying true to his promise of investing in health care and research.  I’m excited to see the future of research with an administration that’s making health a top priority.

What’s staggering about The Polio Crusade is that two million children participated in the vaccine trial.  Two million children!  Parents lined their healthy children up to try an untested vaccine.  It’s nearly impossible to wrap my head around how that could happen.  Not to mention the fact that they had to wait a year to know if the results would be a success.  I think of Luke and there’s a big part of me that can’t imagine trucking him down to school for a shot.  I think of my friends, many of whom lamented over whether to vaccinate their children for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella because of all the media attention on the connection with autism.  But, then I think of the fact that Polio has been eradicated from this country. 

Now let me be clear, the documentary doesn’t gloss over the fact that a drug trial on that scale came with risk.  Calculated risk?  Sure.  But, risk nonetheless.  The question is, is it a risk worth taking today?  For me, I think it may be.  I think we focus too much on the wrong risks like litigation and bottom lines.  Here’s an homage to those children and families who rolled up their sleeves and took a shot in the arm.  Thanks to those original risk takers.  May we remember and learn from your experience.

News came in today that Congress and President Bush have voted to postpone any new spending on medical research or health care initiatives for the next five months.  Additionally the Ending the Medicare Waiting Act that I’ve been working to help push through, will not pass this year.  The legislation has been sidelined until the new president takes office in 2009.  I’ll be working with the Alzheimer’s Association to help ensure the bill is reintroduced and finds additional co-sponsors next year.

In light of the knowledge that there will be no new funding increases, part two of my wrap-up of Dr. Carillo’s presentation will focus on the major clinical trials underway.  It’s important to note that these research initiatives have all been funded by the Alzheimer’s Association.  This means the money you donate when you participate in a Memory Walk or another event sponsored by the Association goes directly to fund these initiatives. 

Dimebon-I think I’ve posted on this drug before, but I’ll recap.  It’s a Russian antihistamine that had been long forgotten, mainly because better antihistamines hit the market.  In it’s first round of clinical trials patients maintained their level of functioning for 18 months.  The Alzheimer’s Association is cautiously optimistic for two reasons.  One–because there a significant differences in the way drug trials are run in Russia.  Two–because this is a drug that treats the symptoms of the disease-not a cure.

Gamma Inhibitors-the drugs in these trials are unnamed, so they’re referenced only by long numbers right now.  I won’t bore you with that information, but the Alzheimer’s Association has further details if you’d like to learn more.  Gamma inhibitors show promise in that they reduce the level of beta-amyloid in spinal fluid and blood.  It remains to be seen if this will be an effective treatment since as we learned in part one, beta-amyloid is no longer thought to be the bad guy.

Rage Inhibitors-again no formal names for this group.  The trials under way for rage inhibitors are thought to reduce inflammation which would potentially provide cognitive protection.

Vaccines-There are two types of vaccines currently in trials, active and passive vaccines.  The long-term goal with any vaccine would be to administer the vaccine before symptoms were present so the individual could mount an immune response.

To sum up, while there have been some impressive gains made in our understanding of the end result of Alzheimer’s disease, there is much to be done from a research standpoint.  I’d like to encourage you all to VOTE!  I truly believe that no disease should be a partisan issue.  Wait for it…BUT, having said that I’ll repeat that if we took the money we spent in three days of operations in Iraq we could fund a clinical trial for fifteen years.