Most leading dementia scientists believe that developments in research will allow people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias to live longer without severe cognitive impairment, but they fear Alzheimer’s will still be with us in 50 years.

The majority of dementia experts say that future treatments are likely to delay the onset of dementia by one or two years, with a quarter anticipating new treatments that will delay the disease by around five years.
 
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust-commissioned Delphi panel study, led by London School of Economics researchers, will be published in the journal International Psychogeriatrics this month.
 
Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said:
“Dementia affects 820,000 people in the UK, costing our economy £23 billion each year. If we could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by five years, we could halve the number of people who die with the disease. With the right investment in dementia research, new effective treatments may be just around the corner. Some level of cure within our lifetimes is achievable.
 
“As this study shows, most experts believe there is enormous potential to delay the progression of dementia through developments in research. At a time when dementia research is severely underfunded, receiving 12 times less investment than cancer research, experts still believe dementia research will improve tens of thousands of lives over the coming years. If we invest properly in our dementia scientists, the potential for breakthroughs would be immense.”
 
Adelina Comas-Herrera, Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and the paper’s lead-author, said:
“There is genuine optimism among dementia researchers that we will be better able to manage the condition. We have revealed a range of plausible outcomes – some modest, others transformative – for the future of dementia research. This underlines the need to maintain growth in investment in dementia research to maximise the chances of effective new treatments emerging swiftly.”
 
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust and London School of Economics study found that dementia experts believe the following outcomes are likely:

New and existing treatments will allow people to live with dementia for one or two years more without the later ‘moderate to severe’ symptoms that develop in people with dementia.

Future treatments will delay the onset of the later stages of dementia by at least one or two years. About a quarter of experts believe that future treatments will delay the onset of dementia by five years.

Alzheimer’s disease is likely to still exist in 50 years time.

Care staff will receive more specialist dementia training and additional pay.