Clinton earmarks $50 million for Alzheimer's research

Promising vaccine passes safety trials

July 16, 2000
Web posted at: 10:21 p.m. EDT (0221 GMT)

In this story: Reagan's daughter applauds Parties competing to do more Hopes rise for a cure Ronald Reagan's condition RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration has designated $50 million to be used over five years for research into Alzheimer's disease, an ailment that disrupts thinking, memory and language skills among the elderly.

The administration's announcement on Sunday coincided with news coming out of the first World Alzheimer Congress 2000 in Washington that a possible vaccine against the disease has passed safety trials.

About 4 million people in the United States are afflicted with Alzheimer's. As the post-World War II baby boom generation ages, authorities estimate the statistic will reach 14 million by 2050.

VIDEO U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and President Reagan's daughter Maureen tell CNN's Judy Woodruff about the battle against Alzheimer's QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Rhonda Rowland examines advances in treatments for Alzheimer's disease. (July 16) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K    ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: description risk symptoms treatment prevention Choose a link above to learn more about Alzheimer's disease. Source: WebMD     ALSO Reagan's Alzheimer's disease 'never gets any better'     MESSAGE BOARD The tragedy of Alzheimer's

The disease costs the American health care system as much as $100 billion a year, the White House said. The average lifetime cost of caring for a patient with Alzheimer's disease has been estimated at $174,000.

"It is more clear than ever that the nation must continue its strong bipartisan support for biomedical research on the causes, treatments, and cures for Alzheimer's disease and other diseases affecting millions of Americans," Clinton said in a written statement.

Reagan's daughter applauds

Maureen Reagan, daughter of former President Ronald Reagan and an activist against the disease her father suffers from, welcomed the White House announcement but said much more is needed.

"I encourage the private sector to help us raise more research funds, and I encourage the government to spend more on what they're doing," she said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."

Maureen is a board member of the Alzheimer's Association, which has called on Congress to increase appropriations against the disease by $100 million for fiscal year 2001.

The association plans to raise $20 million this year alone, she said.

Parties competing to do more

The research to be funded by the White House budget proposal would be conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Chris Jennings, White House health policy adviser, explained that he expected Congress to agree to the proposal, given the popularity of the issue.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who also appeared on CNN's "Late Edition," was asked whether the Clinton administration was stepping up its attack on Alzheimer's partly because of pressure from Republicans in Congress who have complained that Clinton was doing too little.

"The parties have been competing with each other to put more money into basic research, into clinical trials, particularly into these prevention efforts," she said. "We're on the verge of perhaps some very important breakthroughs, but we ought to make sure we're making the investment now."

Hopes rise for a cure

At the World Alzheimer Congress, a pharmaceutical company said last week that preliminary results from the first human study of a possible Alzheimer's vaccine suggest the experimental compound is safe.

Elan Pharmaceuticals' experimental vaccine raised hopes last year when the company discovered that, in mice, the compound could ward off and even reduce the brain-clogging plaque that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists said it is far too soon to tell if the vaccine will be effective in humans.

Elan hopes to launch studies, possibly by the end of 2001, to test whether the vaccine might slow progression of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Ronald Reagan's condition

Now 89, former president Reagan disclosed in 1994 that he was afflicted with the degenerative brain disease. Since then, he's been living quietly in the Los Angeles area with his wife Nancy.

Reagan's daughter said she was proud of her father for going public with his battle because it helped people everywhere acknowledge what otherwise had been a disease many sufferers refused to acknowledge.

"The disease just gets worse every day," Reagan's daughter said. Asked about her father's condition she said, "When I say not so good, Alzheimer's families know what I'm talking about."

Maureen Reagan praised her stepmother and a nurse for their care of the former president. Nancy Reagan lives with the disease 24 hours a day, Reagan said.

"She's the one who wakes up with it every morning and goes to sleep with it every night," she said. "You know, I think in that moment before you wake up, I think for a moment she almost forgets, and then of course (she) realizes that we are where we are."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Alzheimer’s Association
World Alzheimer Congress 2000

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