WASHINGTON — The government is setting what it calls an
ambitious goal for Alzheimer’s disease: Development of effective
ways to treat and prevent the mind-destroying illness by 2025.
The Obama administration is developing the first National
Alzheimer’s Plan to find better treatments for the disease. A
newly released draft of the overall goals sets the 2025
deadline, but doesn’t provide details of how to fund the
necessary research to meet that target date. Today’s treatments
only temporarily ease some dementia symptoms, and work to find
better ones has been frustratingly slow. A committee of
Alzheimer’s experts began a two-day meeting Tuesday to help
advise the government on how to finalize the plan. An estimated
5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar dementias.
It’s the sixth-leading killer, and is steadily growing as the
population rapidly ages. By 2050, 13 million to 16 million
Americans are projected to have Alzheimer’s, costing $1 trillion
in medical expenditures. The national plan is suppose