FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information:
Aaron Traywick
Chief Operating Officer, GHPI
1.334.318.6151
atraywick@healthspanpolicy.org
NEW THINKTANK TO PROMOTE RESEARCH, INNOVATION FOR TREATMENT OF UNDERLYING CAUSES OF AGING-RELATED DISEASE
January 25th, Washington, D.C. – A new think tank to support the research and development of innovative treatments for the underlying causes of aging-related disease has been founded in Washington, D.C. The Global Healthspan Policy Institute represents a member network of over 50,000 international supporters.
GHPI’s present focus is in educating Congress and members of the Administration on the current impact of aging-related disease on public health, well-being, and the economy:
* Nearly 75% of all U.S. deaths are linked to 9 aging-related diseases. [i]
* By 2030, the number of U.S. adults aged 65 years or older will more than double, to about 71 million, and Medicare spending will increase by 25% ($9 billion). [ii]
* One-third of all Medicare spending ($15,000 per person) is tied to aging disease. [iii]
* The economic value of treating the underlying causes of aging-related disease in the U.S. – instead of just one disease at a time – is projected at $7.1 trillion for the next 50 years. [iv]
GHPI includes many of the world’s top-ranking aging researchers and gerontologists among its Fellows, including Dr. Nir Barzilai, M.D., whose team’s landmark work with the TAME/Metformin study has been named one of the seven top innovations of 2015 by the Washington Post. [v] TAME–Taming Aging for Metformin–will test the use of a drug, Metformin, that’s been long-approved by the FDA to treat diabetes to now preventively treat underlying factors that lead to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other aging-related diseases. If successful, TAME has strong potential to serve as a template for regulators to open the door to a new class of medications that protect and restore the healthy function and productivity of the human healthspan – our years of health. The TAME team is supported by the American Federation for Aging Research.
In a recent U.K. study of 78,000 persons aged 60+, unhealthy, obese persons with diabetes who used Metformin lived several years longer than healthy persons who did not have diabetes. Metformin has also been shown to reduce the risk of multiple cancers by 30%, and diabetes mortality by a whopping 50%. [vi]
“Medicare and the healthcare systems have spent untold trillions on the ‘one disease, one cure, one treatment’ model. However, if we address the aging processes that are happening in our bodies right now – and that will lead to a host of new and existing diseases in the future – we can stop these problems before they ever begin, and halt the economic crisis that’s bankrupting America.”
Edwina Rogers, GHPI CEO
Rogers has worked in public policy for over 25 years, serving under two presidents and four senators on healthcare policy, and is the former Executive Director of the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative, a coalition of over 1,000 member-groups responsible for implementing the Patient-Centered Medical Home model around the world.
“Extending the Healthspan, and dramatically reducing the period of compromised living, is now clearly in sight,” says Rogers. “Longer, healthier living is no longer a hope for the future. It is a reality for the present if we will embrace and invest in the current options that are available to us.”
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References
[i] Jiaquan Xu, M.D.; Kenneth D. Kochanek, M.A.; Sherry L. Murphy, B.S.; Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D.; Mortality in the U.S. 2012. NCHS Data Brief. Oct. 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db168.pdf
[ii] National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 2009. Healthy Aging Improving and Extending Quality of Life Among Older Americans http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/aag/pdf/healthy_aging.pdf
[iii] Barnato A.E., Mcclellan, M.B., Kagay, C.R., Garber A.M., 2004. Trends in Inpatient Treatment Intensity among Medicare Beneficiaries at the End of Life. Health Serv Res. 39(2), 363–376
[iv] Dana P. Goldman, David Cutler, John W. Rowe, Pierre-Carl Michaud, Jeffrey Sullivan, Desi Peneva and S. Jay Olshansky. Substantial Health And Economic Returns From Delayed Aging May Warrant A New Focus For Medical Research. Health Affairs, 32, no.10 (2013):1698-1705
http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/cutler/files/health_aff-2013-goldman-1698-705.pdf?m=1389806920
[v] Nguyen, Tuan; “7 of the Biggest Innovations That Made Headlines in 2015” Washington Post, December 30, 2015
[vi] C.A. Bannister, S.E. Holden, S. Jenkins-Jones, C. Ll. Morgan, J.P. Halcox, G. Schernthaner, J. Mukherjee, C.J. Currie; Can people with type-2 diabetes live longer than those without? A comparison of mortality in people initiated with metformin or sulphonylurea monotherapy and matched, non-diabetic controls. Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism. 2014, John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
