Alzheimer's Society comment on deep brain stimulation research

According to the research carried out at Toronto Western Hospital in Ontario, doing so reduces the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's.

Initial tests were carried out on six people with Alzheimer's disease and two appeared to have better cognitive function, although the other four did not. The researchers are now embarking on a trial involving around 50 people as these initial trials were carried out to test the safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Alzheimer's Society comment:

'Finding an effective treatment for Alzheimer's would be life changing for people with the disease. However this was a very preliminary and small trial so it will be years before we will know if the treatment could be effective. There have been encouraging findings from animal studies into deep brain stimulation but further research is now needed on a bigger scale. Dementia research is desperately underfunded. A million people will develop dementia in the next ten years. We must invest now.'

Dr Anne Corbett
Research Manager
Alzheimer's Society