Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said:
“This research provides crucial insight into the serious impact of delirium on people with Alzheimer’s. The findings should inspire new care techniques that help protect patients from rapid deterioration by identifying delirium earlier and treating it swiftly. Further research could tell us whether earlier treatment or prevention of delirium could delay the deterioration of memory and preserve quality of life for people with Alzheimer’s.”

“The number of people in the UK with dementia is forecast to double to 1.4 million in a generation. It is imperative that we fund research that can help us treat this devastating condition and offer hope for the future.”

Dr Richard Perry, Clinical Advisor to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said:
“This is a study on patients with Alzheimer's who get admitted to hospital. We are increasingly recognising that we need to do more to train staff in hospitals about the complications of dementia and to understand more about what causes the delirium. As these are often linked to infections, it may be that inflammatory mechanisms play a more important part in the rate of progression of Alzheimer's disease than we thought.

“There may be a protective role for anti-inflammatory or other drugs in those patients who experience delirium, especially if related to infection or after surgery.”