110th Congress

Alzheimer’s Disease

S. 898/H.R. 1560

Background

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. Four million Americans suffer from AD, including 1 in 10 people over age 65 and nearly half of those over age 85. Nineteen million Americans say that they have a family member with the disease. Without a cure, the number of Alzheimer’s patients is expected to more than triple in the next 50 years.

In the 110th Congress, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging, chaired by Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), has held two hearings on AD research. On March 20, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the “State of Alzheimer’s Disease Research: 100 Years Later,” and on May 15, the Subcommittee held a hearing on “Alzheimer’s Disease: the Current and Future Breakthrough Research.” The Subcommittee also hosted a roundtable discussion on AD in July.

Provisions of the Legislation/Impact on NIH

On July 25, the Senate HELP Committee amended S. 898 with a Committee substitute during a full Committee markup. As amended, S. 898 would increase the level of funding for AD research and would encourage the Director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to continue to make research related to AD, cognitive health, and related disorders a priority. In addition, the bill would require a focus on clinical research on AD, cognitive health, and related disorders, consistent with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) peer-review and priority-setting process.

H.R. 1560 would increase the authorization level for AD research and require the Director of NIA to make supporting AD research a priority for the Institute. In addition, the legislation would require the expansion of clinical research on AD, with a focus on early diagnosis and detection, the relationship between vascular disease and AD, and the acceleration of the translation of research findings into effective treatments and prevention strategies.

Both bills would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, within 3 years of enactment of the legislation and every 3 years thereafter, to convene a summit for the purposes of providing a detailed overview of current NIH research activities related to AD and discussing and soliciting input regarding potential areas of collaboration between NIH and other Federal agencies related to AD research, prevention, and treatment.

Status and Outlook

S. 898 was introduced by Senator Mikulski on March 15, 2007, and was referred to the Senate HELP Committee. On August 3, the bill was reported out favorably as amended by the Committee. No further action has occurred on this legislation.

H.R. 1560 was introduced by Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) on March 19, 2007, and was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. No further action has occurred on this legislation.