WASHINGTON -- Physicians joined journalist Maria Shriver to advocate for funding and public attention to address Alzheimer's disease during a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing Wednesday afternoon, urging senators to oppose the Trump Administration's proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health budget, and calling for people to change daily habits and for a larger provider workforce to stave off a potential public health crisis.
Shriver is founder of the . Her father, politician Sargent Shriver, died of Alzheimer's disease. She told the committee that the pace of research -- even with no federal cuts -- is "not fast enough." Instead of reductions, she urged Congress to increase funding by $414 million in fiscal 2018. "The statement 'we just don't know' needs to be repealed and replaced ... Without a federal commitment, we are going to lose this fight."
Kristine Yaffe, MD, a prominent neuropsychiatrist with the University of California San Francisco, followed Shriver to the microphone.
Speaking of brain research in the aging more broadly, Yaffe, who serves on the 's Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee, said, "This is critical that NIH fund this."
Recent research suggests the importance of cardiovascular health, including lowering hypertension and being physically active, Yaffe said; she recommended people follow guidelines beginning in their 20s to prevent the disease.
Alzheimer's presents a vital public health challenge, senators acknowledged, in part because of the large baby-boom generation. "Given our rapidly aging population, we cannot afford to do nothing," committee chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said, calling for a public health approach to addressing brain health more broadly.
That approach should include more and enhanced caregiver training, and encouraging more people to become caregivers and specialize in treating Alzheimer's patients. The patient demand already exceeds the medical help available, Collins said, and projections say the gap will only widen without reform. Already the most expensive disease in the U.S., Alzheimer's prevalence is expected to triple by 2050 and associated costs to quadruple, Yaffe said.
Witnesses also noted that Alzheimer's affects a higher portion of women. It's especially problematic, said Shriver, because "most women don't know they're at risk" and even major diseases cancers and HIV/AIDS are treatable now, whereas Alzheimer's disease is not.
Shriver challenged everyone in the room to "give us the first person who survives a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease." She added: "I envision a cure ... I don't mean 20 years from now, I mean five or 10 years."
In a statement submitted as part of her testimony, Yaffe said, "I believe that determining why women are more affected will help us unlock some of the mysteries of this disease."
Committee members promised to address that. Collins noted in February she co-authored asking President Trump to increase Alzheimer's research funding in the budget and a Senate resolution "declaring that that the goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer's disease by 2025 is an 'urgent national priority.'"
However, Trump proposed a nearly 20% reduction in NIH funding in his 2018 budget request.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) called the proposal "a giant step backwards," particularly in light of last year's bipartisan passage of the 21st Century Cures Act that included significant funding increases and other measures to enhance medical innovation.
"We will fight these cuts," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).