By Dr. Suzanne Gazda & Dr. Paul Marik
Originally published in The Epoch Times.
Nothing drains America’s cognitive strength more than Alzheimer’s disease. This progressive, fatal condition starves the brain of vital energy and prevents the formation of new memories as the mind, body, and spirit fade away. With over seven million Americans affected, and millions more undiagnosed, Alzheimer’s is a huge driver of health care costs and an urgent public health problem.
Recent research has focused on amyloid protein plaques that build up in the brain, leading the FDA to approve two anti-amyloid medicines. We are also learning, however, that the disease is far more complex. If we hope to defeat Alzheimer’s, we need an all-of-the-above approach guided by wherever gold-standard science takes us.
Fortunately, new research is lighting the path to solutions. Scientists are making progress towards preventing this dreaded disease, and treatment options are improving. As physicians, we have never been more optimistic that millions of people take steps today to lower their risk for Alzheimer’s. With concerted action, the Trump administration can improve care for millions of people and preserve America’s cognitive strength for generations to come.
Lifestyle choices have a powerful impact on preventing brain disease. Low-inflammation diets, regular exercise, quality sleep, mental exercises, and nutritional supplements can help preserve brain health and prevent the development of neurological diseases. An ongoing international study is showing how a combination of healthy lifestyle choices among older adults at risk for cognitive decline can measurably improve cognition over two years.
The challenge is communicating these messages to the public in ways that will cut through the noise of modern life and lead to better choices. Successful prevention efforts require large-scale education and should be prioritized in medical school and primary care settings, where they can be ingrained into clinicians’ routine care for adults.
Our federal government should also launch a nationwide educational campaign to encourage and educate Americans about the role of lifestyle changes in preserving cognitive strength and staving off brain disease. It is never too early to be focused on brain health. Knowing the signs and symptoms of brain disease early in life empowers people to seek care for themselves or their loved ones.
Studying repurposed generic drugs can lead to breakthrough therapies for patients with Alzheimer’s. Modern medical science has extensive knowledge of existing medications for other diseases that hold out hope for treating Alzheimer’s, too. This approach is cost-effective and faster than traditional drug development, making it a promising route for new discoveries. Several drugs under investigation show potential to treat Alzheimer’s.
Policymakers have an opportunity to advance the first systematic study of repurposed generics by advancing AI-powered technology to identify drug-disease connections that would otherwise take years to uncover. The Trump administration should fund the systematic collection and reporting of observational data nationwide, as well as incentivize pharmaceutical industry discoveries by providing patent protections for new uses of old drugs.
The scientific community has reached a watershed moment in recognizing the factors that lead to the decline of brain health. We as a nation have the potential to do today for the brain what we did 70 years ago for the heart. After the prevalence of heart disease soared in the mid-20th century, a concerted public effort was made to understand and address the causes of this epidemic, and guidelines for prevention were created covering smoking, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity, among others. Today, these are all common knowledge. As a result, our ability to prevent heart disease has massively improved. Between 1970 and 2022, deaths from heart disease fell by two-thirds—making this a crowning achievement of public health.
We can do the same for Alzheimer’s disease right now. Educating Americans about simple steps they can take to improve brain health and potentially prevent disease must be an urgent national priority. Specialists and primary care providers must all be empowered to help patients make these changes, improve diagnosis, treat when appropriate, and ensure patients and families receive compassionate care at every stage of the disease.
With the political will of a new movement in the Trump administration, we can marshal insights from emerging research to design a better system of care to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease—and preserve America’s cognitive strength long into the future.
Originally published in The Epoch Times.
Suzanne Gazda, MD, is a neurologist and founder of the Neurology Institute of San Antonio. Paul Marik, MD is senior research advisor at Rebuild Medicine and former Chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
