Dementia ‘not normal part of ageing’ say scientists

Dementia is not a normal part of growing old, scientists have insisted as they step up calls for more investment in research.

By Martin Beckford, Health Correspondent 7:00AM GMT 10 Feb 2011

Experts claim they are close to developing effective treatments for the degenerative conditions that will soon affect a million people in Britain.

They want to dismiss the idea that diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which lead to memory loss and a gradual decline in capabilities, are an inevitable part of the ageing process that await us all.

But they say that dementia remains the “poor relation” to cancer and heart disease in terms of research funding, and so more people will suffer unnecessarily unless Government, private companies and the public increase investment.

Professor Julie Williams, a researcher at Cardiff University who has discovered genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease, said: “We’re on the verge of a profound understanding of dementia and one that could lead us to the treatments we need, but we need help to get there.

“Investing in dementia research now will pay dividends, heading off the forecast explosion in numbers living with the condition and the crippling economic costs that come alongside.”

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Professor Kevin Morgan, of the University of Nottingham, who is Scientific Adviser for Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “Dementia is not a normal part of ageing – it is caused by brain diseases that we can beat, but we need more investment in the research that will give us answers.”

As The Daily Telegraph disclosed, Alzheimer‘s Research UK has launched a new drive to increase funding to improve diagnosis and treatment of dementia.

There are fears that without the same “aggressive” research as was used to target HIV in the 1980s, Britain faces a “dementia catastrophe” that will cost the economy billions and ruin thousands of lives.

Julian Huppert, the MP for Cambridge who hosted the charity’s re-launch in Westminster, said: “The impact of dementia is devastating, affecting not just the individual and the people around them, but costing the UK economy over £23 billion a year.”

Source

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The post Dementia ‘not normal part of ageing’ say scientists appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

Dementia ‘not normal part of ageing’ say scientists

Dementia is not a normal part of growing old, scientists have insisted as they step up calls for more investment in research.

By Martin Beckford, Health Correspondent 7:00AM GMT 10 Feb 2011

Experts claim they are close to developing effective treatments for the degenerative conditions that will soon affect a million people in Britain.

They want to dismiss the idea that diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which lead to memory loss and a gradual decline in capabilities, are an inevitable part of the ageing process that await us all.

But they say that dementia remains the “poor relation” to cancer and heart disease in terms of research funding, and so more people will suffer unnecessarily unless Government, private companies and the public increase investment.

Professor Julie Williams, a researcher at Cardiff University who has discovered genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease, said: “We’re on the verge of a profound understanding of dementia and one that could lead us to the treatments we need, but we need help to get there.

“Investing in dementia research now will pay dividends, heading off the forecast explosion in numbers living with the condition and the crippling economic costs that come alongside.”

Related Articles

• Britain faces dementia catastrophe09 Feb 2011

Professor Kevin Morgan, of the University of Nottingham, who is Scientific Adviser for Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “Dementia is not a normal part of ageing – it is caused by brain diseases that we can beat, but we need more investment in the research that will give us answers.”

As The Daily Telegraph disclosed, Alzheimer‘s Research UK has launched a new drive to increase funding to improve diagnosis and treatment of dementia.

There are fears that without the same “aggressive” research as was used to target HIV in the 1980s, Britain faces a “dementia catastrophe” that will cost the economy billions and ruin thousands of lives.

Julian Huppert, the MP for Cambridge who hosted the charity’s re-launch in Westminster, said: “The impact of dementia is devastating, affecting not just the individual and the people around them, but costing the UK economy over £23 billion a year.”

Source

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• How my gran changed my life


• UK News: Green tea could aid dementia fight


• HRT could help delay onset of dementia


• Less than half dementia sufferers have a good quality of life


• Dementia Definitions: A Brief(er) Post

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‘Electronic Thinking Cap’ to unlock human potential?

University of Sydney scientists say they’re on the verge of creating an ‘electronic thinking cap’ – a way of stimulating the brain to provide flashes of insight.

Richard Chi and Allan Snyder found that participants who received electrical stimulation of their anterior temporal lobes were three times as likely to reach the fresh insight necessary to solve a difficult, unfamiliar problem than those in a control group.

According to the authors, the problem with ‘flashes of inspiration’ is that human beings have a tendency to rigidly apply strategies and insights that have been successful in the past. And there’s normally a tradeoff between being fast at familiar tasks, and being receptive to novelty.

But Chi and Snyder say that it’s possible to modulate this tradeoff and improve insight by applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the brain. This, they say, is a safe, non-invasive technique that temporarily increases or decreases excitability of populations of neurons.

They therefore used tDCS to manipulate the competition between the left and right hemisphere by inhibiting and/or disinhibiting certain networks, and found a three-fold improvement in problem-solving.

English: Temporal lobe(red). Polygon data are from BodyParts3D maintained by Database Center for Life Science(DBCLS). 日本語: 側頭葉。 ポリゴンデータはDatabase Center for Life Science(DBCLS)の作成しているBodyParts3Dより。 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This fits neatly with evidence that the right anterior temporal lobe is associated with insight or novel meaning, and that inhibition of the left anterior temporal lobe can induce a way of thinking that’s less top-down and less influenced by preconceptions.

Chi and Snyder want to carry out further studies involving brain stimulation in combination with neuroimaging. But, they say, they “can imagine a future when non-invasive brain stimulation is briefly employed for solving problems that have evaded traditional cognitive approaches”.

Source

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