What is Texas doing about Alzheimer's Disease?

Every 70 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer's disease.  More than 5.3 million Americans are living with the disease (including 5.1 million 65-and-older and approximately 200,000 under-65 with early onset).  At least 14 million baby boomers--those born between 1946 and 1964--will develop Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder in their lifetime, doubling the number of people with the disease today.  It is estimated that approximately 340,000 Texans will have the disease by the end of 2010, which ranks Texas as third in the number of cases and second in Alzheimer's disease deaths.  In Texas, 852,820 unpaid caregivers--primarily family members--are providing care to the estimated 340,000.  This equates to approximately $11.2 billion in unpaid care, the second highest in the nation (2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts & Figures, Alzheimer's Association).  The disease progression will vary from person to person, but they may live an average of 5 to 8 years.  Some may live as many as 20 years after the onset of symptoms.  It takes an enormous toll on the health care system, American businesses, families and individuals (Texas Council on AD and Related Disorders, 2008 Biennial Report).

Texas recognized a great need to develop an infrastructure to challenge this burden.  In 1999, the Texas Alzheimer's Research Consortium (TARC) was established by the 76th Texas Legislature.  The legislature mandated that a group of AD centers be established among four state institutions--Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, North Texas University Health Science Centers, University of Texas Southwestern Dallas and Baylor College of Medicine.  In 2005, the first appropriations of $2 million was provided for start-up funding.  In 2007, the Texas Legislature nearly doubled the initial amount, making it then possible to recruit 500 Texans with AD and 300 healthy control participants into the Texas Harris County Alzheimer's Study focusing on cutting edge biomedical research.  The clinical testing data as well as the collected blood and DNA samples are being combined in a new centralized Texas Alzheimer's Data Bank, based at UT Southwestern.  TARC has established the first Texas bio-bank of stored blood, tissue and DNA to support current and future research studies.  Researchers across Texas are able to utilize these unique resources to answer specific questions about Alzheimer's both now and in the future.