Alzheimer’s

1. Alzheimer’s • Then…Progressive problems with memory, language and behavior were considered an inevitable part of aging. • Now … Basic research is fueling the creation of new drugs for Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment. • Imagine … Alzheimer’s could be just a memory

2. Cancer • Then…In the 1970s, only one child in 10 survived cancer. • Now …Today, seven out of 10 children who develop cancer are alive five years after diagnosis. • Imagine … Eliminating suffering and death due to cancer by the year 2015. Sources: NCI SEER database; American Cancer Society 1997

3. Fluoridation • Then …the damage caused by dental caries (tooth decay) was an inevitable fact of life for most people. • Now …Cases of dental caries in the permanent teeth of school aged children have been declining in the U.S. for approximately 20 years and fewer adults are having teeth extracted because of dental decay • Imagine …eradicating tooth decay completely and keeping your permanent teeth permanently. Source: Healthy People 2010, Volume II Objectives for Improving Health (Part B)

4. Then … Heart disease killed quickly and without warning. Now …Deaths from heart disease have dropped by 60% and is no longer the number one killer of Americans under the age of 85. Imagine …Eliminating preventable deaths due to heart disease. Heart Disease Source: NHLBI/NIH (1998, 2002).

5. HIV/AIDS • Then…In the early 90s, one in four HIV-infected mothers passed the infection on to their babies. • Now …With antiretroviral drugs treatment, the mother-to-child transmission rate has dropped dramatically in the U.S. And,more affordable drug regimens are being tested to help those in developing countries • Imagine … A world where every child of an HIV-infected mother has the chance to be born healthy. Sources: NIAID/NIH 1998, 2003. OAR/NIH 2001.

6. Lead • Then…lead in gasoline caused serious health problems in our children. • Now …removal of lead from gasoline has caused a decrease in lead poisonings among children. • Imagine … eliminating all harmful chemicals from our children’s world.

7. Tobacco • Then… Smoking was considered a healthy, socially accepted behavior • Now … the dangers are well known and documented • Imagine … if the 440,000 deaths each year due to tobacco products were prevented

8. Prematurity • Then…Deaths of newborns from respiratory distress syndrome totaled more than 10,000 a year in the 1950s. • Now … With the discovery and development of artificial lung surfactant deaths of premature newborns from RDS have decreased to fewer than 1,000 in 2002. • Imagine … Preventing premature births completely. Source: March of Dimes

9. Research Funding • Then …threatened cuts followed by doubling the NIH budget between 1999-2003. • Now … research funding cuts for 2006 and beyond. • Imagine… sustained support for research at the level of scientific opportunity.

10. Lasers • Then…Use of the laser was solely laboratory based phenomenon to help scientists study molecular structures • Now … Used in a multitude of tools essential to our lives: in the copy machines and laser printers in our offices; the scan bar codes at the supermarket; for correcting vision; diagnosing and destroying cancers; healing wounds and performing microsurgery • Imagine … Fueling a “hydrogen economy”

11. Cataracts • Then…Thirty years ago, cataracts were the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. • Now … Cataract surgery has an overall success rate of about 98 percent with the majority of patients having the clouded lens replaced with a new, artificial one. • Imagine … Envisioning a future without visual impairments. Source: National Eye Institute