ZERHOUNI SAYS BRAIN RESEARCH
IS KEY TO FUTURE HEALTH BEHAVIOR SUCCESS

By Becky Ham, Staff Writer
Health Behavior News Service

"We want to intervene before the crash of disease, we don't want to pick up the pieces," he said.

Preventive therapy for obesity and addiction, in particular, would benefit from better understanding about the biology of behavior and decision making, Zerhouni said.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs, along with precisely targeted medicines like the new cancer drug Gleevec, are examples of the kinds of molecular-level prevention that will become more important and widespread, he predicted.

"For the first time, we see the possibility of influencing prevention at the very lowest level of disease," said Zerhouni.

"We are seeing the emergence of multitargeted therapy," he said. "What is becoming obvious to us is that disease doesn't happen for one reason … a single cause for a single cure. So the concept of a magic bullet that will cure disease is not a good concept."

NIH will add to its string of "stunning research successes" in the next decades, Zerhouni predicted, although the milestones of progress may look a little different.

The standard for every disease should not be a cure, he said, noting that cancer, AIDS and other diseases have moved from being certain killers to chronic conditions.

In his remarks at the National Press Club, Zerhouni approved the proposal announced Thursday by the Bush administration to create a smallpox compensation fund for hospital personnel and other first responders who may be injured by the vaccine. Even if the compensation plan does not persuade more people to become vaccinated now, the first responders could be successfully vaccinated three to five days after a smallpox attack, he said.

Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.