Funding gap in dementia research – Alzheimer’s Research Trust

Dementia research, compared with other major diseases such as cancer, has been underfunded for a long time, states Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.

A report published by the organisation this year revealed that 820,000 people in the UK are affected by the condition, at a cost to the economy of £23 billion per year; five times as much as cancer.

“Dementia has been called the greatest medical challenge of our age because we have a growing population, are living longer, but we are not necessarily living healthily for longer,”

As reported by Mediplacements.com, the Trust has been campaigning with the government to try and raise funds for dementia research.

Simon Lovestone, director of the Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, a partnership between South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, is seeking biological markers to test the progress of the disease:

“Clinical trials are where biomarkers will find their earliest utility.” says Lovestone. “Improving the accuracy of measuring the effectiveness of a drug could reduce the number of volunteers and time needed to carry out a clinical trial, reducing today’s £17m-£35m bill for most trails by up to 90 per cent. Because nine in 10 trials fail, it could also free resources to test more drugs.

“In 10 years we may have established biomarkers for dementia but how fast we get to that point is simply a question of funding,” Lovestone stays.

On nerve cell function in dementia, Richard Wade-Martins, head of the Molecular Neurodegeneration and Gene Therapy Research Group at Oxford University says that the way dementia patients’ bodies produce a protein called tau is different from how it is produced in those without the condition, but the effect of this variation on nerve cell function is unclear, reports Communitycare.co.uk.

The best way to find out is to create nerve cell cultures in a laboratory using skin cells from live dementia patients and compare them with those of healthy patients. “This field didn’t exist until 2007,” says Wade-Martins. “It has revolutionised the way we study diseases.”

“The best hope for treatment is neuroprotection. You work out why the cells are dying and then you find drugs that will stop them dying,” he adds.

But it is expensive. Wade-Martins estimates an average-sized study over five years costs about £5m. Yet dementia develops slowly so studies need to run over 10 and 15 years. However, Wade-Martins says investment of this level can significantly reduce the number of cases of dementia and ease pressure on health and social care services, reducing long-term costs.