Tag Archives: Dementia

The ALzheimer’s COoperative Valuation in Europe (ALCOVE) project was a Joint Action co-financed by the European Commission to produce a set of evidence-based recommendations for policymakers on dementia.

A recent article published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry reports on progress regarding the ALCOVE work-stream devoted to timely diagnosis.

Brooker, D. La Fontaine, J. [and] Evans, S. [et al] (2014). Public health guidance to facilitate timely diagnosis of dementia: ALzheimer’s COoperative Valuation in Europe recommendations. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. July 2014, Vol.29(7),pp.682-93.

On 17 September, Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) released its annual World Alzheimer Report, this year on the topic of “Dementia and Risk Reduction: An analysis of protective and modifiable factors”.

With predictions of a coming global avalanche of dementia cases, researchers are turning their attention to prevention strategies. Based on current data, at least four lifestyle factors robustly affect dementia risk, according to the World Alzheimer Report 2014.

Researchers led by Martin Prince at King’s College London analyzed previous studies that examined the effects of developmental, psychological, lifestyle, and cardiovascular factors on dementia risk. They found that diabetes heightened risk by 50 percent, while smoking increased the odds of Alzheimer’s disease by the same amount. Hypertension in midlife pumped up the risk for vascular dementia by 60 percent, while education lowered dementia risk by about 40 percent. Factors such as depression and obesity also appeared to inflate risk, while physical activity and cognitive stimulation seemed to lower it, but existing data are not strong enough to draw firm conclusions about those factors, the report noted.

The findings belie the report from a 2010 National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science panel, which concluded that insufficient evidence existed to endorse any health intervention for lowering Alzheimer’s risk. The World Alzheimer Report argues that, “There is persuasive evidence that the dementia risk for populations can be modified through reduction in tobacco use and better control and detection for hypertension and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular risk factors.”

The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that improving heart health and maintaining an active lifestyle and sensible diet wards off dementia.

Researchers attribute recent drops in dementia incidence in developed countries to higher education levels and better cardiovascular care.

The World Dementia Council has announced the next steps in its drive to speed up dementia research and increase investment. The plans were agreed at its second meeting at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris in July.

Four main areas are being pursued in order to tackle the lack of effective treatment and sufficient funding to find a cure:

Integrated development – Optimising the path of medicines from research through to market by reducing barriers & encouraging regulatory flexibility. This work is being led by WDC member Raj Long, Senior Regulatory Officer, Integrated Development, Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Finance and incentives – Looking at ways to increase the relatively low investment in funding dementia innovation by exploring new types of funding product. The first stages of this work will be focused on different stages of the drug development process with the development of two models that could support early stage and late stage drug development respectively. Later work is likely to focus on care innovation and basic science. The UK Government has engaged JP Morgan to help the WDC develop its proposals.

Open science – Unleashing the enormous potential of open science for sharing information and knowledge to accelerate progress in developing new treatments and care approaches, and avoiding wasteful duplication of effort. Both the World Health Organisation and OECD will be supporting the Council in developing their work on this.

Public health/prevention – The Council is also beginning an evidence review into existing research on how risk factors such as diabetes and heart disease relate to dementia, as well as looking into public health messaging on lifestyle and prevention. WDC member Harry Johns, President and CEO of Alzheimer’s Association, Harry Johns is leading this review.

The stress of caring for a family member with dementia may take a toll on health over time, but a new study suggests that even one day off can shift caregivers’ stress levels back toward normal.

Based on measurements of the stress hormone cortisol, researchers found that caregivers had healthier stress responses on days when the dementia patient went to adult daycare. Even anticipation of the day off had an effect on cortisol levels.

In the lead up to the publication of the Irish Dementia Strategy (due in Autumn 2014), Atlantic Philanthropies have announced new grants totaling €14.7 million to improve the care and wellbeing of people suffering with dementia in the Republic of Ireland. These grants are the subject of ongoing discussions with the Government. The grants are being made to:

– The Health Service Executive (€12m)

– The Health Research Board (€2.7m)

As a result of this funding, The Health Research Board, and the Irish Department of Health are partnering with Atlantic Philanthropies to invest up to €4.7 million into research on dementia. The research will focus on improving prevention, intervention and care of people with dementia.

 

 

 

The priorities of the Italian EU Presidency were recently published under the title “Europe: a Fresh Start”.

For health-related priorities, special importance is being dedicated to the prevention of respiratory diseases, cancer, HIV and consideration of vaccines as an effective tool for public health.

A Presidency Conference on Dementia on 14th November 2014 will focus on the treatment of pain and also palliative therapies.

An additional Presidency Conference entitled “Science with and for Society – Memory: To Know, To Preserve, To Share” will take place on 19th November 2014.

The aim of the second conference is to discuss the achievements of three related European Joint Research Initiatives (JPI-Neurodegenerative Disease/Alzheimer’s, JPI-More Years, Better Lives, JPI-Cultural Heritage), an Article 185 project (Ambient Assisted Living), and a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (SHARE-ERIC). This common effort is directed towards providing reflections, discussion and new tools for revitalizing fading memories due to disease, demographic change, catastrophes and armed conflict.

Source:  Italian Presidency website