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More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, including 24,000 here in Idaho. In 2017, caring for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias will cost $259 billion — including $175 billion in direct costs to Medicare and Medicaid.

As the only leading cause of death that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed, these numbers are only going to increase. Yet, despite these troubling numbers, Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health remains underfunded.

As a retired pharmacist and physician with a background in family medicine, emergency care, medical management, pharmaceuticals, and public health, I understand firsthand the impact this disease has on families across America. That’s why I am joining the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement in calling on Congress to increase Alzheimer’s research funding by $414 million in the next fiscal year. This is the amount recommended by NIH scientists in their professional judgment budget.

I thank Congressman Mike Simpson of southern Idaho for voting in committee to increase NIH Alzheimer’s funding by $400 million. I urge Congressman Raul Labrador and Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch to join him by increasing funding for Alzheimer’s research by at least an additional $414 million in Fiscal Year 2018

JAMES ARTHURS, M.D.

Sandpoint