Thousands of people worried about memory loss and the risk of early or young-onset dementia are to be offered access to pioneering new blood tests.
Two research teams from University College London and Dementias Platform UK based at the University of Oxford will capitalise on recent breakthroughs in blood tests for the condition to roll out a widespread testing programme, the charity the Alzheimer’s Society has said.
Getting a formal dementia diagnosis currently relies on undergoing either mental ability tests, brain scans, or invasive and potentially painful lumbar punctures. However, only around 2% of people can access these specialist tests.
It is estimated around one million people are living with dementia in the UK, and this is expected to rise to about 1.7 million by 2040. More than 70,000 adults of working age in the UK are thought to be struggling with early onset or young-onset dementia. Dementia is also now the leading cause of death, with Alzheimer’s accounting for two-thirds of cases.
The teams make up the ‘Blood Biomarker Challenge’, a multi-million pound award given by the Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Research, along with Gates Ventures and £5m raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The project aims to “revolutionise” dementia diagnosis, the society has said.
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The ‘READ-OUT’ team (REAl world Dementia OUTcomes) will be led by Dr Vanessa Raymont, associate director for Dementias Platform UK and senior clinical researcher in Oxford University’s Department of Psychiatry.
This team will look for signs of a range of types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. The researchers will also look at whether the blood tests can help detect these diseases at various stages.
The second ‘ADAPT’ team, (Alzheimer’s disease Diagnosis And Plasma p-tau217), led by Professor Jonathan Schott and Dr Ashvini Keshavan at University College London, will focus on identifying a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease called p-tau217. They will measure whether p-tau217 in the blood increases the rate of diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease both in people with early dementia and those with milder, progressive problems with memory.
Professor Schott, who is also Alzheimer’s Research UK’s chief medical officer as well as professor of neurology at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: “An early, accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is already important, allowing people to access to appropriate care and medications. If, as we hope, new treatments that can slow down Alzheimer’s disease become available soon, then this will be vital.
“This would pave the way for fair and equitable access to new and potentially life-changing treatments to all who might benefit.”
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Dr Raymont added: “Since I first stepped into a memory clinic 30 years ago there has thankfully been a shift in the way society thinks about dementia. There was previously a feeling that this was just another part of ageing, but now we’re seeing that people want to know more about their condition and they want a diagnosis as it helps them access the support they need.
“Both my parents lived with dementia so I know first-hand the devastation this disease causes, and how a timely and accurate diagnosis can benefit people and their families.”
