British scientists lead the way in dementia research despite funding gap

Published 10 July 2009

British scientists are leading the field at the International Conference of Alzheimer's Disease, in Vienna (ICAD, 11 – 16 July).

Researchers, backed by Alzheimer's Society, are presenting a host of scientific projects from investigating new targets for drug treatments; studying the impact of mild head injuries on your risk of dementia to assessing people with dementia's fitness to drive.

ICAD is the biggest conference of the year looking at cause, cure, care and prevention of dementia. During the conference, Alzheimer's Society researcher Dr Kidd, from Cardiff University, will present research on developing an immunotherapy against Alzheimer's disease. Immunotherapy aims to treat diseases by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response and has been successfully used in cancer treatments. Dementia researchers are now testing various antibodies to see if they will act as potential treatments for dementia.

Dr Fowler, from Edinburgh University, is presenting a poster describing work that assesses whether mild head injuries can increase a person's risk of developing dementia. Epidemiological studies already suggest a link between head injuries and dementia and Dr Fowler will present further work on mice models that has been funded by Alzheimer's Society.

Last month Alzheimer's Society joined British scientists and other charities to call for a tripling of government investment in dementia research. The charity revealed that despite the success of British researchers the UK government lags behind France, Germany and the US in dementia research funding and has no plans for the future.

Professor Clive Ballard, Director of Research at Alzheimer's Society, says,

'It's fantastic to see so many dementia researchers flying the flag for British research in Vienna. Dementia research in the UK is desperately underfunded. The government spends eight times less on dementia research than on cancer research but despite this lack of funding Britain continues to make important scientific discoveries. Just imagine what we could achieve if we tripled the funding for dementia research and developed a comprehensive plan.

In the next ten years a million people will develop dementia; with the right investment dementia can be defeated. Alzheimer's Society currently invests over £6 million in cutting-edge health and social research, selected by leading experts, people with dementia and carers and is pleased to be showcasing this work at ICAD.'