FRIENDS Magazine Fall 2010 - Banner Health

Alzheimer’s
disease at
a glance
Banner
Alzheimer’s
Institute
leads global
research endeavor
An estimated 5.3 million
Americans now live with
Alzheimer’s disease.
The cost of their care
exceeds $170 billion
each year. When you
break down the
numbers, roughly 10
percent of those over
the age of 65 and
almost half of those
over age 85 have the
disease. By the time
today’s young adults
become senior citizens,
the numbers are
expected to quadruple,
thus affecting an
estimated 16 million
people and costing more
than $1 trillion annually.
Philanthropic support, collaboration key to success
The Nomis Stiftung Foundation (Nomis), a European-based
private foundation dedicated to promoting scientific research
focused on improving human life, made an incredibly generous
$3.5 million contribution in support of Banner Alzheimer’s
Institute and its groundbreaking work to organize and lead the
recently unveiled Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API).
The API represents a global effort to uncover new therapies
that will effectively slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease as
well as those intended to prevent its onset. This incredibly
worthwhile undertaking has brought together an international
base of Alzheimer’s disease research scientists, physicians and
pharmaceutical companies to work collaboratively on the task at
hand—stopping Alzheimer’s disease in its tracks.
To do so, API researchers will launch clinical trials that offer
practical and powerful ways to test promising Alzheimer’s disease
therapies among individuals who have the highest risk of
developing Alzheimer’s disease but do not yet exhibit
memory and thinking problems. Remarkably, this is a new
venture in the study of Alzheimer’s disease prevention.
Success of the API requires the dedication of many.
Researchers and physicians must be driven by discovery.
Pharmaceutical companies must be passionate about the
purpose. Study participants must be committed to the
cause. And the world must be willing to endow the effort.
The Nomis Foundation has proven its dedication. With
its support, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and API
collaborators are charting the world’s most rapid and
rigorous course to prevention.
To date, Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation has secured
approximately $8 million in funding for the API.
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