Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - We Can Prevent and Effectively Treat Alzheimer's in 10 Years. Here's How Hillary Clinton Plans To Do It

A candidate on the side of science.

More than a century after Alzheimer's was identified, there is still no cure and no effective treatment. With a new diagnosis every minute, Alzheimer's is a looming public health disaster (and one that already costs us $200 billion annually).

That's why Hillary Clinton just rolled out a plan to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer's by 2025—and make a cure possible. It's an ambitious goal, but one the scientific community believes is possible and necessary. Here's what you need to know about this medical moon shot.

Scientists have made major advances in Alzheimer's research.

We've learned nearly everything we know about Alzheimer's in the past 15 years—particularly after researchers, led by Dr. Rudy Tanzi of Harvard University, created "Alzheimer's in a dish"—human nerve cells, made from stem cells, meant to replicate a human brain environment.

For the first time, scientists were able to state conclusively that Alzheimer's can be traced to a substance called amyloid plaque in the brain—which starts to build up well before a patient begins to notice any memory loss. Amyloid plaques lead to tangles in the brain (another way to develop tangles is through multiple concussions, like NFL players do). Once tangles form, nerve cells in the brain begin to die and spark inflammation. Inflammation, the body's attempt to defend the brain from tangles, actually causes more cell death, particularly in the part of the brain needed for short-term memory.

This was a major finding, and it explained why treatments targeting amyloids in patients with full-blown Alzheimer's were failing—because they should have been treated much earlier. As Dr. Tanzi explains it, "This is like giving a patient with congestive heart failure treatment for cholesterol. You had to do that 20 years before to be effective."

Doctors and medical researchers can now see amyloid plaque in the brain and evidence of tangles—and they can predict, in most cases, if a person is on their way to Alzheimer's two decades before they show signs. But as Dr. Tanzi notes, "What good is predicting that if you can't help them?"

Current treatments don't stop the disease.

Remember, there is no treatment that will either prevent or effectively treat this disease. Current drugs provide a very mild benefit—and only for a short time—while the Alzheimer's brain continues to go downhill.

Ten years could make all the difference. "There's so much we already know," says Dr. Virginia Lee of the University of Pennsylvania. "With additional funding, we could treat patients who are cognitively normal who might be on their way to Alzheimer's, so they don't develop cognitive impairment for a long time. We could start combination therapy [targeting amyloids, tangles, and inflammation]. And we could prevent Alzheimer's from developing in the first place."

"If we could not wait to treat people who have already lost their memories," adds her colleague Dr. John Trojanowski. "That would be a very important accomplishment."

Alzheimer's research isn't constrained by knowledge—only budget.

It comes down to funding (more specifically: lack of funding).

"Most of what we're doing in terms of understanding the disease, from the models we're making to the drug discovery process, is based on genes we found in the ?80s and ?90s," says Dr. Tanzi. "But since then, we've learned about two dozen more Alzheimer's genes, thanks to modern genome work. But we don't have the money to work on it—that's why we're working on the tried-and-true genes from 20 years ago."

"Alzheimer's in a dish," which revolutionized how researchers understand the disease and how they're thinking about treatment and prevention, was funded by the private Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Just think what researchers could do with Hillary's proposed $2 billion a year.

Can it be done in 10 years?

It's possible—thanks to a confluence of research, rapidly advancing technology, and an emerging consensus on the cause of the disease and its progression. "Alzheimer's research clinical trials are taking off," says Dr. Trojanowski. "Investing in this point in time is perfect. Twenty years ago we didn't know enough. Right now we can do it. We have the ideas, and we have the people."

The missing part of the equation is a major federal investment. That's why Hillary is pledging to invest $2 billion each year for a decade, to help find the elusive treatment and prevention plan—and maybe even a cure—that has evaded scientists.

That kind of ambitious thinking is exactly what we need, says the head of MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Ronald DePinho, who launched a moon shots program for cancer. "Her proposal will yield new diagnostics and therapeutics capable of bending the arc of this dreaded disease," he says. "No one can predict when these breakthroughs occur, but we do know that Secretary Clinton's bold proposal will get us there faster."

For the families of 5.4 million Americans, it can't come soon enough.