Episode 1043: Alzheimer's Disease Breakthrough New Blood Tests, New Treatments, and What Congress Must Do Now

More than seven million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease today, a number projected to nearly double by 2060. It already consumes 20% of all Medicare spending and costs the economy close to half a trillion dollars annually. But the science is finally catching up. Newt is joined by former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield and Dr. Brent Beasley, a retired internist who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 57, for a conversation about new blood tests that detect the disease early and what treatments are being developed. Dr. Redfield draws on his decades leading America's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic to argue that Alzheimer's disease demands the same sense of urgency. Dr. Beasley shares his remarkable personal journey: how an early blood test and a new monoclonal antibody treatment reversed his decline. Together, they lay out the five policy changes needed now, from routine blood testing for everyone over 50 to removing CMS barriers blocking access to approved treatments, including passage of the bipartisan ASAP Act, which would create a Medicare pathway for FDA-cleared blood-based Alzheimer's biomarker tests.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.