An experimental treatment happens to be the solution to delay Alzheimer's symptoms in some people. These people are the ones who are genetically destined to get the disease in their 40s or 50s. These new findings form ongoing research has now been caught up in Trump administration funding delas. The early results of the study has been published on Wednesday and the participants too are worried that politics could cut their access to a possible lifeline.

One of the participants had said, "It is still a study but it has given me an extension to my life that I never banked on having." The participant is named Jake Henrichs, form New York City, who is 50 years old. He is one of them to be treated in that study for more than a decade now and has remained symptom-free despite inheriting an Alzheimer's-causing gene that had killed his father and brother around the same age.

Slowing Down The Symptoms

Two drugs which can modestly slow down early-stage Alzheimer's are sold in the United States. These drugs clear the brain of one of its hallmarks, a sticky gunk-like part called the amyloid. However, there have not been any hints that removing amyloid far earlier, way many years before the first symptoms appear, may postpone the disease.

How Was The Research Conducted?

The research is led by Washington University in St Louis, which involved families that passed down rare gene mutation as participants. This meant it was almost guaranteed that they will develop symptoms at the same age their affected relatives did.

The new findings is based on a subset of 22 participants who received amyloid-removing drugs the longest, on average eight years. Long-term amyloid removal cut in half their risk of symptom onset. The study is published in the journal Lancet Neurology.

Washington University's Dr Randall Bateman, who directs the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network of studies involving families with these rare genes says, "What we want to determine over the next five years is how strong is the protection. Will they ever get the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease if we keep treating them?”

The researchers before though did not know what exactly caused Alzheimer's which affects nearly 7 million Americans, most of them in their later life. However, it is clear that these silent changes occur in the brain at least two decades before the first symptom shows up. The big contributor. At some point amyloid buildup can trigger a protein named tau that then starts to kill neurons, which can lead to cognitive decline.

Researchers are now thus studying the Tau-fighting drugs and are looking into other factors, like inflammation, brain's immune cells and certain virus.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has expanded its focus as researchers have found more reasons for Alzheimer's. In 2013, the NIH's National Institute on Aging funded 14 trials of possible Alzheimer's drugs over a third targeting amyloid. By last fall, there were 68 drugs and 18% of them target amyloid. However, there are scientists too who think that amyloid is not everything and their is way more in the brain tissue, immune cells, and more which can be studied.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced more than $281 million in funding opportunities through 15 grant programs aimed at addressing addiction, deaths from overdose, mental illness and strengthening recovery services across the country.

HHS Announces $281 Million To Address Addiction & Recovery

The funding, announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is supposed to support several health initiatives, including substance use and its treatment, suicide prevention, trauma-informed care, overdose, integrated behavioral healthcare, workforce development, recovery support services, and training for first responders.

Part Of Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative

The investment forms part of the Trump administration's Great American Recovery Initiative, which seeks to expand healthcare in the midst of the nation's ongoing addiction and mental health crises.

Announcing the initiative, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the funding would help communities get access to treatment, strengthen and improve recovery services, prevent overdoses, and provide frontline workers with the resources needed to save lives.

“We are investing more than $281 million through 15 grant programs to expand treatment, strengthen recovery services, prevent overdose, and equip communities with the tools they need to save lives, restore families, and Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said.

SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher D. Carroll said the grants reflect the agency's commitment to addressing the prevention of addiction and overdose-related deaths and treatment of long-term recovery support. The announcement comes amid continued efforts by the federal government to increase investments in behavioral health.

The grants will support effective treatment, strengthen prevention efforts, expand recovery services, and provide resources for the professionals and organizations working on the front lines of the addiction and mental health crisis,” Carroll said.

Read more: 80 Years Of CDC: How America’s Premiere Health Institution Changed Under Donald Trump’s Administration

Other Behavioural Healthcare Initiatives

Last month, HHS allocated more than $700 million in additional funding opportunities, including support for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), homelessness initiatives, and the new STREETS program, which aims to reach enable homeless people get treatment and recovery services.

Earlier this year, SAMHSA also distributed nearly $800 million in block grants to states and territories to strengthen mental health services and substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery programs, highlighting federal efforts to expand behavioral health infrastructure.

Despite these investments, the administration's handling of behavioral health funding has faced scrutiny. In January, the Trump administration briefly canceled nearly $2 billion in addiction and mental health grants before reversing the decision following widespread criticism from lawmakers, public health experts and service providers, who warned that disruptions could jeopardize essential treatment and recovery programs.

The latest funding announcement also comes as the United States continues to grapple with high rates of mental illness and substance use disorders.

SAMHSA says that more than 21 million American adults were grappling with both a mental illness and a substance use disorder in 2024, underscoring the need for integrated treatment and recovery services.

For Canadians living with severe mental illnesses, the latest delay in making mental disorders eligible for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) has reignited feelings of despair. People who had hoped the law would eventually recognize unbearable psychological suffering say they now feel abandoned by a system that has repeatedly postponed the change.

Impact Of Canada’s Latest MAID Decision

Many patients told the media that after years of exhausting treatment options, the repeated delay in making mental illness eligible for MAID has left them feeling as though they have “nothing” left to hope for.

One woman, Ann, who has lived with severe mental illness for decades, told CTV News she has tried virtually every available treatment, including medications, psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and ketamine therapy, but nothing has eased her suffering.

She said the repeated delays have left her feeling “absolutely abandoned,” adding, “They've left me with nothing.”

Another patient, Nicole, said she has struggled with debilitating psychiatric illness for years despite receiving extensive treatment.

She told the media that knowing MAID might one day become available had given her a sense of comfort, even if she never ultimately chose it. With the expansion postponed again, she says that reassurance has disappeared.

Read more: Men Account For Nearly 3 Out Of 4 Suicides In India — Are We Ignoring A Growing Men's Mental Health Crisis?

Why Has Canada Delayed Making Mental Illness Eligible For MAID?

Canada currently allows MAID for eligible adults experiencing irremediable, incurable and untreatable physical illnesses under a strict legal framework. However, people with severe mental illness who are struggling to get better still remain ineligible.

The federal government has delayed the expansion several times, with eligibility now expected no earlier than March 2027.

More recently, a parliamentary committee recommended indefinitely excluding mental illness as the sole qualifying condition, arguing that Canada is not yet equipped to implement the policy safely and fairly.

Supporters of expanding MAID say the current law unfairly discriminates between physical and psychological suffering. They argue that some people with severe psychiatric disorders endure decades of relentless symptoms despite exhausting every treatment option available.

Critics, however, say determining whether a mental illness is truly “irremediable” remains far more difficult than for many physical illnesses. Experts also warn that physicians currently lack reliable tools to distinguish a sustained request for MAID from suicidal thinking that may improve with treatment.

Mental health specialists have also emphasized that gaps in access to psychiatric care, housing, and social support must be addressed before eligibility is broadened.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has argued that while psychological suffering can be just as profound as physical suffering, more evidence and safeguards are needed before extending MAID to mental illness alone.

MAID Accounts For About 5% of Deaths in Canada

According to the latest available figures from 2024, MAID accounts for around 5 per cent of all deaths in Canada. About 96 per cent of MAID cases involved people whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable, most of them terminal cancer patients.

The remaining 4 per cent involved patients whose deaths were not imminent but who had a "grievous and irremediable medical condition".

As one of Canada's most controversial healthcare policies continues to be debated, people like Ann and Nicole say they remain caught in limbo, waiting for a decision that could change the choices available to those living with severe, enduring mental illness.

The UK government has mandated that all schools across the country stock life-saving allergy pens from September under new statutory guidance known as Benedict's Law.

Published by the Department for Education (DfE), the guidance requires schools to keep adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs), commonly known as allergy pens, on site. Teachers will also receive training to ensure they can respond quickly during emergencies, including administering the devices.

The nationwide rollout follows campaigning by the National Allergy Strategy Group and families, including Helen and Peter Blythe, parents of Benedict Blythe, who died after suffering an allergic reaction at school in 2021.

What Does the New Guidance Say

Under the new guidance, schools will also be expected to have clear allergy policies and healthcare plans, the DfE said.

"Today is a really important day for the thousands of families across the country who for too long have worried about keeping their children safe," said Education Minister Olivia Bailey.

"Benedict's Law means every single school will now have the training plans and the life-saving equipment in place to protect every child."

The statutory guidance, which sets out what schools must do to adhere to the law, will come into force in September.

From 2027, the same measures will become statutory duties and will apply to state schools, independent schools and fee-paying special schools. This means schools will be legally required to implement the changes.

What Happened To Benedict Blythe?

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Benedict Blythe died after accidental exposure to cow's milk protein while at Barnack Primary School, between Stamford and Peterborough, in December 2021.

Benedict was just 5 years old when he died following an allergic reaction at school.

On the morning of 1st December 2021, he opened his advent calendar and happily went off to class, a few hours later he collapsed and died from anaphylaxis. He was allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, sesame and chickpeas.

His mother, Helen Blythe, said she had worked with the school to put together an allergy action plan, but an inquest heard that process had not been followed.

"Had Benedict's Law and this guidance been in place when he'd been at school, he almost certainly would still be with us," Blythe said.

She noted that the Benedict's Law meant children would be "stepping into an education system far safer than the one that has come before," BBC reported.

She added there was a "significant gap" in schools' preparedness for children with allergies that would be addressed by Benedict's Law.

According to research by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, 50% of schools in England do not have any spare medication, one-third have no allergy policy, and 70% do not have all the measures now being introduced.

"The publication of this guidance is the beginning of a new era for allergy safety," Blythe said.

"It will improve the safety of hundreds of thousands of children and ensure around one and a half million adults working in schools have the knowledge and confidence to recognize an allergic reaction and respond quickly in an emergency."

What is Anaphylaxis?

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The Mayo Clinic defines anaphylaxis as a sudden, severe, and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. It can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to something you're allergic to, such as peanuts or bee stings.

Anaphylaxis causes the immune system to release a flood of chemicals that can cause you to go into shock — blood pressure drops suddenly and the airways narrow, blocking breathing.

Signs and symptoms include:

• Skin: itching, redness, swelling, hives that are widespread across the body
• Mouth and/or throat: itching, swelling of lips, tongue
• Stomach: vomiting, diarrhea, cramps
• Respiratory: trouble breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, chest pain and/or tightness
• Heart: weak pulse, dizziness, faintness
• Headache, nasal congestion, watery eyes, sweating
• Confusion, feeling of impending doom
• Loss of consciousness

How Do Allergy Pens Work?

The first-line treatment for anaphylaxis is epinephrine (adrenaline), which is available by prescription as an auto-injector or nasal spray. It works by reversing the life-threatening symptoms of a severe allergic reaction.

Delays in using epinephrine are common in fatal food allergy reactions. Other medications, such as antihistamines, are not adequate substitutes because they do not reverse airway swelling or raise dangerously low blood pressure.

Allergists advise that everyone with food allergies carry their epinephrine delivery device at all times, particularly those who have previously experienced anaphylaxis, have both food allergies and asthma, or are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, fish or crustacean shellfish.