Congressional Black Caucus, Alzheimer’s Association To Urge More Funding for Research on Disease in Blacks

The Congressional Black Caucus and the Alzheimer's Association this week plan to ask lawmakers to increase funding for research on Alzheimer's disease and establish a new program to track the disease in African Americans, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports. The groups will ask Congress to boost funding for NIH research programs on Alzheimer's disease and to expand a grant program at the Administration on Aging that "looks for ways to research specific communities dealing" with the disease. In addition, the groups will ask lawmakers to establish a new CDC program to expand community outreach programs and develop a system to "accurately report the prevalence of the disease." According to the groups, studies have found that African Americans, who face a "higher risk" of hypertension and raised cholesterol levels -- risk factors for Alzheimer's disease -- "may be more at risk" for the disease than whites. Orien Reid, chair of the Alzheimer's Association, said, "Alzheimer's disease is a 'silent epidemic' emerging among African Americans that has crept up on our community while most of us weren't paying attention. These studies are sending us a clear wake-up call." Del. Donna Christian-Christensen (D-Virgin Islands), president of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that African Americans "need to be vocal" about the disease and "more aggressive in demanding Alzheimer's testing and treatment." She added, "This is the civil rights issue of the decade." The Congressional Black Caucus hopes that the campaign to increase support for Alzheimer's disease programs will help to "narrow" the "health gap" between African Americans and whites. On Feb. 14, the group plans to "push the importance" of early prostate cancer screening for African-American men, Paul Brathwaite, policy director for the group, said (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 2/11).