Obama to seek more Alzheimer's research money
Obama to seek more Alzheimer's research money
LAURAN NEERGAARD
From Associated Press
February 07, 2012 12:18 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is increasing spending on Alzheimer's research — planning to surpass half a billion dollars next year — as part of a quest to find effective treatments for the brain-destroying disease by 2025.
In a two-part plan announced Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health immediately will devote an extra $50 million dementia research, on top of the $450 million a year it currently spends. The boost opens the possibility that at least one stalled study of a possible therapy might get to start soon.
Next week, President Barack Obama will ask Congress for $80 million in new money to spend for Alzheimer's research in 2013.
"The science of Alzheimer's disease has reached a very interesting juncture," with promising new findings to pursue after years of false starts, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins told The Associated Press. "We would love to be able to come up with a way of bringing forward an even larger amount of support."
Patient advocates have long said the nation's spending on Alzheimer's research is far too little considering the disease's current and coming toll. More than 5 million people already have Alzheimer's or related dementias, a number that, barring a medical breakthrough, is expected to more than double by 2050 because of the aging population. By then, the medical and nursing home bills are projected to cost $1 trillion annually.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Scientists claim cannabis can offer hope for Alzheimer's sufferers
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-530252/Scientists-claim-cannabis-offer-hope-Alzheimers-sufferers.html#ixzz1lntmvF92
But alas, Cannabis officially has "No medical value". 
and she improved for a long time at first. Got her diet changed, adjusted some meds. Then she fell and broke her hip. She healed and mostly bounced back. Then she got pnuemonia several months ago, recovered fine but over the last several weeks, she's getting weaker. more words are coming out wrong. She 'time-travels' alot on her bad days. Has vivid dreams and wakes up thinking she was talking to her mom or sister... or that she's in the wrong house because she's remembering where she lived years ago.
One symptom that drives her nuts is when she wants to move her body will do the opposite. She's wheelchair and bed-bound now, but she makes it to the table for dinner almost every night (promptly at 5pm! lol).
I'm lucky to be chronically unemployed at this time, so I can take care of her here, with Dad and my grown sons to help and a caregiver 3 days a week. We'll do our best to keep it up, till the end if we can. If she gets where she doesn't know any of us though, I don't think we could handle that, it would just be too hard on the kids. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it I guess.
I'm glad to see more $$ for research, that's for sure. They have made great strides already, if you go by how fast the disease progressed in the family members we lost already. Her sister and mom went down fast, with-in just a few years.
Gram is now almost 7 years since diagnosis, and it's been fairly slow. Someday we'll be able to stop the progression altogether 
The thing that has saved my sanity is, of all things.. a Baby Monitor! Get one if you can for the nights she visits, you can crank the volume up so you will definitely hear her. It will reduce your worry/stress level immensely, cause you can hear every move she makes, even when her breathing changes. It takes a little getting used to, and the nights when Gram is restless I don't get as much sleep, but the good nights sure make up for it! Don't go for the cheapest, we've tried 4 different ones and settled on the Sony Babycall for about $50.
'nother
