WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the House author of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act signed into law earlier this year, and Founder and Co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Alzheimer’s Taskforce, today issued the following statement after the Alzheimer’s Association released its annual Fact and Figures Report:
 
“I commend the Alzheimer’s Association for its annual report, which contains important findings for all of us. Today’s data highlights the current state of Alzheimer's disease in the country. The disease is now the 6th leading cause of the death, and the only top cause without any prevention, cure, or treatment to slow its progression. We have made advancements in the fight against breast cancer and heart disease, but have yet to fully address the most crucial health care crisis on our nation’s horizon.
 
“The cost of Alzheimer’s - $183 billion in 2011- is mind-boggling. This price tag includes $93 billion from Medicare and $37 billion from Medicaid. That means that nearly 20 percent of our entire Medicare budget is spent on this one disease, and we still don’t have a cure.
 
“President Obama spoke about our ‘Sputnik Moment.’  For Alzheimer’s, we don’t need a Mission to the Moon – we need a Mission to the Mind.  When it comes to Alzheimer’s, failure is not an option for our nation. If we do not make any real progress against this disease, it will severely strain our country’s finances while devastating our families.
 
“Now is not the time to cut funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Instead, we need a breakthrough investment for research. Research is medicine’s field of dreams from which we will harvest the ideas that lead to the cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s. NIH is the National Institutes of Health, but it’s also the National Institutes of Hope. In research we find hope for a cure.  Now is our ‘Sputnik Moment’ and it’s also our ‘Apollo Moment’ – failure is not an option. ”
 
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