Research into Vascular Dementia

A research priority

In May 2007, the Alzheimer's Society hosted a joint workshop with Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network (DeNDRoN) and the Stroke Research Network to discuss research into vascular dementia. Prominent researchers interested in cognitive impairment due to vascular disease attended along with representatives from the major research funding bodies including the Stroke Association, Alzheimer's Research Trust, Wellcome Trust, Health Technology Assessment and the Medical Research Council.

The group agreed that there are excellent potential opportunities to prevent or delay the onset of dementia in people with existing cerebrovascular disease. However, at present the level of investment in this area lags substantially behind other common conditions affecting the brain.

Less than £3 per person with vascular dementia is invested per year in research to improve treatment, prevention and care and only 0.09% of all research publications since 2002 have focused on vascular dementia. This is in stark contrast to cancer and cardiovascular research which account for 23% and 17% of research activity respectively.

There are a number of immediate initiatives which would have a high likelihood of achieving major advances in treatment and prevention of vascular dementia. One is the preparation and implementation of a clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of an existing drug, perhaps developed to treat hypertension for example, on the development or progression of cognitive impairment.

It is anticipated that work of this nature would take up to eight years to implement at a cost of approximately £10million. For this reason, focused strategic funding and effective scientific collaboration is needed to enable them to be realised. With this goal in mind, representatives from each of the research networks have established a taskforce to develop work plans aimed at developing the proposed research strategy and identifying potential funding mechanisms.

The identification by leading researchers of such a significant research gap helps to inform the work of the Alzheimer's Society and we are committed to stimulating more research in this area.