Universities in the north-east and Tayside are to play key roles in a new initiative to improve the treatment and diagnosis of people suffering from dementia.

The Scottish Government is investing £1million to establish a new clinical research network bringing together Scotland’s leading academics and clinicians.

The network will translate scientific discoveries into safe and effective treatments, focusing on patient-centred clinical research. It will be built around four research hubs in Glasgow, Grampian, Lothian and Tayside.

The north-east hub will be based at Aberdeen University’s memory clinic where patients go for diagnosis of dementia. Under the new system academics will send researchers and doctors into the clinic to carry out research and train NHS staff.

The Tayside hub will be based at Dundee University.

The network will also provide outreach services to the rest of the country so that patients can easily become involved in research.

It will be chaired by Dr Peter Connelly, consultant old age psychiatrist, from NHS Tayside. He said: “Scotland has an international reputation for pioneering scientific research.

“This new investment will, for the first time ever, bring a co-ordinated approach to dementia research in Scotland, the way we have seen with our existing Scottish clinical research networks for cancer, children's medicines, diabetes, stroke, mental health and primary care.”

Dementia is a growing problem affecting at least 6% of people over 65 in Scotland. It is projected the total number of people affected may rise by 75% over the next 25 years.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form but dementia can arise as a result of Parkinson's disease, stroke and other degenerative neurological diseases such as Huntington's disease. Scottish scientists have been at the forefront of many advances in the understanding of dementia, but there is no cure or way of preventing the disorder.

Last month researchers at Aberdeen University announced a breakthrough with a new drug that slows the progress of the brain-wasting disease by 81%. If the results are confirmed the drug could be available by 2012.

Public Health Minister Shona Robison said more had to be done to support dementia sufferers with effective support at the earliest possible opportunity.

The new network will also collaborate with similar dementia research networks in the UK, as part of the UK Clinical Research Network.

Dementia patients given anti-psychotic drugs have a far higher risk of stroke than other people, regardless of the type of medication they are on, researchers said today.

A study into the types of drugs available has found that dementia patients are 3.5 times more likely to have a stroke while taking any anti-psychotic. Up to 105,000 are inappropriately prescribed the drugs in the UK, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.