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Jacob Madrid

Mrs. Litle

English 121

5 November 2018

Annotated Bibliography

The sixth deadliest disease for the elderly in the United States is ironically one of the

least understood and researched disorders. Alzheimer’s disease affects approximately 5.5 million

Americans and is the leading cause of Dementia. These two illnesses attack the brain, greatly

impacting everyday abilities for those suffering. Specifically attacking the progress of the brain,

impairing one’s memory and thinking skills, making simple tasks increasingly difficult,

Alzheimer’s commonly first appears when the patient is in their 60s.

Despite the obvious concern, researchers have yet to discover how to cure or even

prevent this silent killer. Many scientists blame this on the lack of funding for research programs

dedicated to the cause. Compared to other diseases’ funding, there is an obvious insufficiency for

Alzheimer’s. These absent finances are responsible for holding researchers back from being able

to conduct critical tests, observations, and trials. The current patent law is also a factor in the

prevention of proper experimentation. The lengthy process to conduct trials leads to protection

laws that averts possible pharmaceutical investors. The following sources reliably analyze the

impact the lack of proper funding has on this disease. They interpret why such little has been

done to benefit the cause compared to equally serious medical issues. Alzheimer’s isn’t going

anywhere anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean our fight against it has to stay at a halt as well.

“Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet.” National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet#treating.

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This article gives a prime history exclusively from the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. The source provides shocking statistics, declaring the illness as one of the

leading causes of death. They then state the effects of the disease that lead to gradual decrease of

quality of life. Following these horrifying facts is the story of how Dr. Alois Alzheimer first

diagnosed the disease in 1906 following the death of a patient who died of an unusual mental

illness. He further went on to discover her memory loss, speech issues, and behavioral problem

were related to abnormal clumps and tangled fibers in her brain. These are still closely connected

to disease, along with lost connections between nerve cells in the brain. The severity of

Alzheimer’s varies to each patient, but progressively worsens over time. We then learn that due

to advances in today’s imaging, we are able to see the development and spread of certain factors

of Alzheimers. These small advances have allowed research into the earlier stages and therefore

earlier diagnosis’s. Scientists are unaware of the cause of Alzheimer’s, despite our knowledge of

the phenomenon for over a century. The author’s clear knowledge helps to easier understand and

interpret the true impact that this unknown illness has over such a large population of our

country. Many questions are raised by this relentless disease, and few of them have been

answered.

This source is an excellent way to show the severity of the disease. The heartbreaking

statistics make one question why there is not more being done to help those suffering. The

background provides a deeper and more meaningful description of the disease which makes it

easier to understand and wish to be further involved.

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Increase Funding for Alzheimer's Research | Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Association,

act.alz.org/site/Advocacy?alertId=1271&pg=makeACall.

This article provides more information from the National Alzheimer’s Association itself.

This association is in charge of providing nationwide Alzheimer’s awareness, support groups,

and fundraising. According to the source Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in our

country and is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. Caring for patients with this

disease will be tens of trillions of dollars within the next few decades, and the majority of those

funds will be from Medicare. Their research states that even delaying the disease for 5 years,

Medicare spending for the disease could be reduced by 45% in that time. The funding going in to

preventing or curing the disease is minimal compared to that of caring for those with the disease.

It brings to light that the national government does not prioritize Alzheimer’s as much as other

common health issues, despite its large death toll. If Alzheimer’s was made a higher priority,

there would definitely be more successes than what we see today. However, due to the National

Alzheimer’s Plan, the NIH has been able to issue a blueprint to further research on the brain and

its effects. Though Congress has provided multiple grants in research money, it is still not

enough for the ever growing issue disease.

I agree with this article as it brings to light the lack of attention the government provides

for this issue. It is obvious that in the long run current funding for this matter would benefit the

country’s economic status, but for now they are not willing to put forth the resources needed to

help us reach that point of stability. It is understandable that the government is focused on

limiting their expenses, but at what cost?

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Golde, Todd E, et al. “Right Size Funding for Alzheimer's Disease.” National Center for

Biotechnology Information, BioMed Central, 6 May 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

articles/PMC3226306/.

The final source is a journal from the National Library of Medicine, focusing specifically

on the still unmet needs of those suffering from the disease. This paper vividly compares the

battle with Alzheimer’s to the recent and successful curb of HIV/AIDS. This was an epidemic

that was fought rapidly, with most of its successes are due to the helpful funding from the

government. This is because their funding was “right sized” and researchers were able to not

only clearly understand the cause, but also develop effective therapeutics. The funding for

Alzheimer’s isn’t even half of what the funding for HIV/AIDS was, despite the cost of AIDS

research being 23 times higher than that of Alzheimer’s. Many awareness groups have more

recently increased efforts of raising funding, but has yet to be recognized as the serious problem

it is.

This source can be used to show the government’s role in this issue, and the awareness

that must be drawn. All of the associations fighting for better funding and research do pull in

some much needed extra funds, but it is simple still not enough. Researchers and activists will

not stop fighting until they have the sufficient cost to cure and prevent one of the top deadliest

diseases.