Dementia research gets 13 times less funding than cancer, figures show

Despite the huge burden of dementia far less money is spent research a cure for the devastating condition than researching cancer treatments.

Dementia research gets 13 times less funding than cancer even though the cost to society is far greater, Oxford University has found.

Treating and caring for cancer patients currently costs Britain around £5 billion a year, but the bill for dementia is £11 billion.

Yet despite the huge burden of dementia just 8p is spent on researching new treatments for each £10 spent looking after people with the condition. In contrast, cancer research receives £1.08, more than 13 times more.

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Daring skydive in aid of Dementia UK

A plucky parent is planning to leap 10,000ft out of a plane to raise money for a charity close to her heart.

Mum-of-two Sally Elms, of Kirton Holme, will take to the skies over Peterborough in June to support Dementia UK.

“As a Dementia friend I am trying to raise awareness of this cruel, progressive disease by doing a tandem skydive on June 20,” said Sally, 49.

“Dementia UK is a charity close to my heart after 
having my mum diagnosed 
several years ago with 
vascular dementia and also losing an uncle to Alzheimer’s just over a year ago.”

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What can you do to prevent dementia?

It’s a condition that could strike any one of us, and there is still no cure. But evidence suggests that changing your lifestyle can help to reduce your risk

The longer we live, the more likely we are to develop dementia. Of all the myriad conditions that accompany old age, it is the one that tends to terrify us most. One in six people over 80 have the condition, with impaired cognitive function (usually memory loss) and at least one other significant problem with language, spatial awareness or function. Treatments exist, but they often have little or no effect and, despite reports last week that US researchers have found a possible cause, there is still no cure.

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Alzheimer's: New hope for research after years of gloom and dead ends

 

Findings from the US bring us closer to understanding what causes this disease, but ‘Alzheimer’s mice’ are not a perfect parallel for what happens in human brains.

The hope that Alzheimer’s will one day be curable has in recent years faded to a flicker as successive clinical trials ended in failure. But the prospect of a treatment this week grew a little brighter as scientists uncovered a new and unexpected explanation for the development of the disease. 

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Governments commit to advancements in dementia research and care

At the WHO-hosted Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland today announced that over US$ 100 million will be invested in a pioneering new global Dementia Discovery Fund. Major pharmaceutical companies have committed in principle to investing in promising research efforts for dementia through the project, along with the non governmental organization Alzheimer’s Research UK and the United Kingdom Government. The announcement was welcomed as the type of innovative mechanism that could bring about a breakthrough in treatment.

At this WHO Conference, supported by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 80 countries joined experts from the research, clinical and advocacy communities to discuss how, collectively, they could move forward action on dementia at the global level.

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