Clinton wants to triple Alzheimer's research spending

Hillary Clinton is proposing the country more than triple its spending on research into Alzheimer’s disease.

The Democratic front-runner for president plans to speak in Iowa Tuesday about her proposal to increase annual federal spending on the effort from its current $586 million to $2 billion. She said experts predict such a spending level could bring a cure within a decade.

“We owe it to the millions of families who stay up at night worrying about their parents and loved ones afflicted by this terrible disease and facing the hard reality of the long goodbye to make research investments that will prevent, effectively treat and make a cure possible by 2025,” Clinton said in a statement released by her campaign. “The best scientific minds tell us we have a real chance to make groundbreaking progress on curing this disease and relieving the pain so many families feel every day. My plan will set us on that course.”

She said her proposal also could help in the fight against related brain illnesses, such as Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Several Iowans have asked Clinton at campaign visits about her plans to fight Alzheimer’s disease, which experts say will become increasingly common as Baby Boomers age. Clinton isn't the only politician to listen to such pleas. Congress earlier this month voted to raise federal spending on Alzheimer's research by $350 million to more than $900 million.

Clinton’s statement cited national reports that 5 million Americans are now affected by Alzheimer’s and nearly 15 million will be by 2025. “Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and is the only cause in the top 10 that we cannot currently prevent, cure or even slow,” the statement said.

Other presidential candidates are also talking about the issue. For example, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has called for spending more money to find cures for Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. However, he hasn’t put a dollar figure on how much money he would target at the medical research.

In campaign speeches, he often talks about repealing The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and pushing for health care reforms that would lower costs and focus on finding cures for Alzheimer’s and other chronic diseases.