Alzheimer

1
Alzheimers

• Then Progressive problems with memory, language
  and behavior were considered an inevitable part
  of aging.
• Now Basic research is fueling the creation of
  new drugs for Alzheimers prevention and
  treatment.
• Imagine Alzheimers could be just a memory

2
Cancer

• Then In the 1970s, only one child in 10
  survived cancer.
• Now Today, seven out of 10 children who develop
  cancer are alive five years after diagnosis.
• Imagine Eliminating suffering and death due to
  cancer by the year 2015.

Sources NCI SEER database American Cancer
Society 1997
3
Fluoridation

• Then the damage caused by dental caries (tooth
  decay) was an inevitable fact of life for most
  people.
• Now Cases of dental caries in the permanent
  teeth of school aged children have been declining
  in the U.S. for approximately 20 years and fewer
  adults are having teeth extracted because of
  dental decay
• Imagine eradicating tooth decay completely and
  keeping your permanent teeth permanently.

Source Healthy People 2010, Volume II
Objectives for Improving Health (Part B)
4
Heart Disease

• Then Heart disease killed quickly and without
  warning.
• Now Deaths from heart disease have dropped by
  60 and is no longer the number one killer of
  Americans under the age of 85.
• Imagine Eliminating preventable deaths due to
  heart disease.

Source NHLBI/NIH (1998, 2002).
5
HIV/AIDS

• Then In the early 90s, one in four HIV-infected
  mothers passed the infection on to their babies.
• Now With antiretroviral drugs treatment, the
  mother-to-child transmission rate has dropped
  dramatically in the U.S.
• And, more affordable drug regimens are being
  tested to help those in developing countries
• Imagine A world where every child of an
  HIV-infected mother has the chance to be born
  healthy.

Sources NIAID/NIH 1998, 2003. OAR/NIH 2001.
6
Lead

• Then lead in gasoline caused serious health
  problems in our children.
• Now removal of lead from gasoline has caused a
  decrease in lead poisonings among children.
• Imagine eliminating all harmful chemicals from
  our childrens world.

7
Tobacco

• Then Smoking was considered a healthy, socially
  accepted behavior
• Now the dangers are well known and documented
• Imagine if the 440,000 deaths each year due to
  tobacco products were prevented

8
Prematurity

• Then Deaths of newborns from respiratory
  distress syndrome totaled more than 10,000 a year
  in the 1950s.
• Now With the discovery and development of
  artificial lung surfactant deaths of premature
  newborns from RDS have decreased to fewer than
  1,000 in 2002.
• Imagine Preventing premature births completely.

Source March of Dimes
9
Research Funding

• Then threatened cuts followed by doubling the
  NIH budget between 1999-2003.
• Now research funding cuts for 2006 and beyond.
• Imagine sustained support for research at the
  level of scientific opportunity.

10
Lasers

• Then Use of the laser was solely laboratory
  based phenomenon to help scientists study
  molecular structures
• Now Used in a multitude of tools essential to
  our lives in the copy machines and laser
  printers in our offices the scan bar codes at
  the supermarket for correcting vision
  diagnosing and destroying cancers healing wounds
  and performing microsurgery
• Imagine Fueling a hydrogen economy

11
Cataracts

• Then Thirty years ago, cataracts were the
  leading cause of blindness in the U.S.
• Now Cataract surgery has an overall success
  rate of about 98 percent with the majority of
  patients having the clouded lens replaced with a
  new, artificial one.
• Imagine Envisioning a future without visual
  impairments.

Source National Eye Institute