Minnesota Legislature
Kiel reminds legislators about funding memory loss research
More than 100,000 Minnesotans have an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the sixth leading cause of death in the nation and an incurable disease.
If you’re age 65 or older, you have a one-in-nine chance of getting the disease.
Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester), whose father died from the disease, and Rep. Debra Kiel (R-Crookston) are expected to introduce legislation on Thursday for Alzheimer’s disease research and family support grants.
The proposal would appropriate $5 million in fiscal year 2016 and another $5 million in fiscal year 2017 from the General Fund to administer a research grant program. Nelson and Kiel gave an informational hearing on their proposal to the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee Wednesday. No action was taken.
Dr. Steve Waring, senior researcher at Essentia Institute of Rural Health in Duluth, said diseases such as cancer, heart disease and HIV/Aids receive four times the amount of research funds than Alzheimer’s research. Cures for those diseases and ways to slow their progression were a direct result of funding research, he said, and he believes quadrupling research funding for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia diseases is a path toward finding a cure.
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