Cause for optimism during
Dementia Awareness Week
9 July 2010
An analysis of recruitment of people with dementia to NIHR portfolio studies reveals that there has been a six fold increase in recruitment to portfolio studies since 2006, from 800 to nearly 5,000.
Dementia affects an estimated 750,000 people in the UK, but until recently, relatively little research was undertaken into this clinical area, which was generally perceived as a low priority for researchers.
As well as having a smaller number of research specialists, identifying patients for trials has been an issue in the past – partly due to the fact that dementia patients are diagnosed in a broad variety of settings, not just hospitals, where patient recruitment for clinical studies has traditionally been centered. Also, as many people with dementia also suffer mobility problems, it was often very difficult to travel to one of the relatively few locations running a dementia/neurodegenerative clinical trial.
This picture is changing and DeNDRoN is playing its role. One of DeNDRoN's key aims is to increase access to patients across the country. There are now 227 NHS sites are now engaged in dementia studies, compared to just 65 sites in 2006.
Martin Rossor, Director of DeNDRoN explains: "Up until a few years ago, there wasn't much of an infrastructure for research into dementia, which was really holding things back. However, we have been able to put around 70 specially trained staff through our local research networks into the NHS - specifically to focus on carrying out clinical trials in dementia - and it is making a huge difference.”
Martin Rossor continues: “We are also specifically supporting studies into Huntington’s Disease. This includes helping NHS patients to access one of the largest clinical research studies in Europe into Huntington’s Disease, which looks at the effectiveness of different drugs on key biochemical markers. We hope this study will, in time, provide some important clues about how to slow the progression of the disease.”
This improving networked infrastructure for research comes on the back of the new coalition government’s pledge to do more in this area of research – a move which is welcomed by the Alzheimer’s Society.
Says Clive Ballard, Director of Research at the Alzheimer’s Society, ”It is an exciting time for dementia research, and this progress can’t come soon enough. One in three people over 65 will die with dementia, which is why it is so important that research is made a priority. We’re looking forward to the next stage of developments.”