Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., coauthored a letter to President Donald Trump Jan. 31 demanding increased federal funding for Alzheimer's disease research.
The letter was signed by a bipartisan group of 13 other senators, and it outlined the devastating affects Alzheimer's has on American families and the rising costs of treating the disease. Alzheimer's currently costs the U.S. $259 billion per year and is projected to cost $1.1 trillion annually by 2050.
The letter's authors urged President Trump to make a greater investment in Alzheimer's research funding in the upcoming 2019 budget.
"Investments in research for other diseases have yielded tremendous results: patients have access to new treatments, and death rates for some diseases are decreasing. Yet, at the same time, mortality due to Alzheimer's is escalating dramatically," the authors write. "Fortunately, there is promising research that holds hope for Alzheimer's patients and their families. The research community is poised to make important advances through clinical trials and investigating new therapeutic targets, but adequate funding is critical to advance this research."