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What is the National Institute on Aging?
- The National Institute on Aging (NIA), created by Congress in 1975, is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
- The NIA's mission is to improve the health and well-being of older Americans through research.
- The Institute leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life.
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Why is funding for the NIA so important?
- The nation's aging population is growing rapidly. By 2030, the number of adults age 65 and older will nearly double to 70 million. By 2050, one out of every 5 people living in the United States will be aged 65 or older.
- Americans are also living longer, and older adults can now live for many years with multiple chronic illnesses.
- Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, depression, osteoporosis, and Parkinson's disease often lead to progressive frailty and disability among older adults, causing long-term illness, reduced quality of life, and increased healthcare costs.
- Poor health and functional status do not have to be an inevitable consequence of aging. Now more than ever, sustained levels of NIA funding are needed to improve the health and well-being of older Americans.
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What kind of research does the NIA support?
- The NIA leads the federal effort supporting and conducting research on aging and the medical, social and behavioral issues of older people, including Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline.
- Recent NIA investments have helped create new and promising research avenues, diagnostic methods, and new treatments. For example, promising results from an NIA-sponsored clinical trial demonstrated that prescription of regular structured exercise allowed sedentary elderly to safely improve their physical function and may reduce the likelihood that they will experience serious problems with their mobility.
- An analysis published in October 2007 suggests that about 3.4 million Americans age 71 and older-one in seven people in that age group-have dementia, and 2.4 million of them have Alzheimer's disease. The study highlights the nationwide reach of dementia, which affects not only those with the disease, but their families and communities as well.
What will happen if funding for the NIA is not increased?
- Without adequate funding, the AGS is concerned that the NIA may be unable to fund research that is both crucial to the national interest and scientifically meritorious.
- Inadequate appropriations, coupled with increasing numbers of grant applicants, means that the NIA funding rate will decrease. The grants offered though ARRA are only two-year grants, thus the number of 2011 applicants will be very high because the 2009 two-year grantees will likely look for competitive grant renewals and there will be insufficient funding available. As a result, highly innovative and potentially high impact research on aging will not be done. A long-term funding plan needs to be considered to maintain these important research efforts.
- AGS is also concerned that inadequate funding will negatively impact the ability and will of new investigators to enter this very important field.
- In addition, the cost of conducting research studies has increased dramatically. Without additional funding, the NIA will be unable to invest in research studies that often provide valuable evidence.
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