Alzheimer's, already the sixth leading cause of death in the nation, is
a serious and growing problem:
The number of deaths from strokes and heart disease is down more than 30 percent over the past decade, and cancer deaths have declined almost 15 percent. The reverse has occurred with Alzheimer’s. Over a decade, deaths have risen sharply, up 38 percent for men and 41 percent for women.
It is expected to get worse. A report this spring by the nonpartisan RAND Corp. estimates that by 2040, the number of Americans afflicted will have doubled, as will the costs. Other experts say that, as grave as those projections are, they may be underestimated.
Well, readjust those estimates to be still worse, because thanks to sequestration, National Institutes of Health funding is being cut:
The supporters of the automatic cuts do not seem fazed. The N.I.H. funding is cut 5 percent, or $1.55 billion this year, across the board. That means 700 fewer research grants are approved and 750 fewer patients will be admitted to its clinical center. The longer the automatic cuts go on, the worse it will get; medical breakthroughs are rarely instant. They take years and build on previous studies and experiments.
Before the cuts went into effect, Alzheimer’s research was slated for a healthy increase this year. By moving a few discretionary funds, the N.I.H. has avoided cutbacks.
Still, the funding falls significantly short of the promise.
So the sequester's damage will be with us for decades, in the people who might not have developed Alzheimer's, or might have had the course of the disease slowed, if funding had not stalled.