dementia research

Alzheimer’s Research UK has renewed its call for urgent action on dementia as new analysis estimates that one in three people born this year will develop the condition during their lifetime.

The findings, revealed on World Alzheimer’s Day (21 September), foreshadow a looming national health crisis as the UK population ages, and underlines the need for global efforts to develop new treatments to succeed. Read more here.

Drug companies are retreating from the search for a dementia cure after “repeated and costly failures” to develop a breakthrough drug, a major report has warned.

Scientific and financial challenges have meant that, between 1998 and 2012, there were 101 unsuccessful attempts to develop drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, with only three drugs gaining approval for treating symptoms of the disease, according to the study.

Dementia trials could be failing because they all-too-often overlook the physical health of patients – according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Aston University. More than 60 per cent of people with dementia are estimated to have three or more other conditions (co-morbidities).

The World Dementia Council has announced the next steps in its drive to speed up dementia research and increase investment. The plans were agreed at its second meeting at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris in July. Read more here.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) today announced a multi-million pound programme to accelerate progress in dementias research. Launching in April 2014, the MRC UK Dementias Research Platform (UKDP) is a public-private partnership that will unite a wealth of partners and knowledge in a fresh drive to understand neurodegenerative disease onset and progression.