Analysis: More research will give us more answers

Published on Monday 20 July 2009 22:03

SOCIETY desperately needs answers to big questions about the early detection, prevention or delay of dementia and the best choice between treatments.

The personal suffering of patients and carers demands concerted action with substantial public support.

For example, the discovery of a possible anti-dementia drug needs to be translated into clinical practice as soon as it can be shown to be safe and effective. Typically, from that "eureka moment" in the laboratory it is about 15 years before a drug becomes a routine treatment. With more funding and better links between clinical care and the pharmaceutical industry, this could be a quicker process.

The growing dementia epidemic will increasingly impair our capacity to maintain the same standards of care for all. Visit any of Scotland's care homes and a typical scene comprises hard-working carers often with many years of experience. Look closely and see that most are local women, most over 50 years. There is a missing generation of carers. By 2025, this imbalance between available good quality carers and dementia sufferers will have become a national embarrassment. By 2050, given the numbers expected, dementia care will have become an unmanageable part of the health and social care budget.

New research funding is also needed to find more effective ways of diagnosing dementia as early as possible. Logically, treatments will work better the earlier in the progress of the disease that they are given. If the dementia is killing brain cells, the more healthy brain cells you have left, the more likely a new treatment is to be effective.

We don't currently have a reliable test for those at greatest risk of dementia or even those with very early dementia. Satisfactory test development requires the co-operation of large numbers of volunteers without dementia who are willing to be followed through for many years.

Continued research into the causes of dementia is also needed. About 55 per cent of the causes of dementia are genetic – meaning that more 40 per cent of causes are environmental.

This is not rocket science, it is common sense and it is time we committed ourselves to finding these solutions. All it will take is time, money and brains.

&#149 Lawrence Whalley is an emeritus professor in mental health at Aberdeen University