What’s happening in dementia research?

16 May 2022

9 minutes

Feature


Every 3 minutes someone in the UK develops dementia and it’s estimated that more than 900,000 people are currently living with dementia in this country. The four main types of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia.

Possible theories of what causes dementia are often reported in the media, but there are still so many unknowns about the condition, and research continues to help understand the causes, and improve treatment and care for people living with dementia or their carers.

Here’s a look at some of the latest research findings, and some other studies that are still ongoing. 

Latest research findings

Landmark study reveals 42 new genes associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease 

  • A major international study identified 75 genes associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, including 42 genes which had not previously been implicated in the condition. 
  • The findings suggest that degeneration in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease patients could be spurred on by ‘over-aggressive’ activity in the brain’s immune cells, called microglia.
  • The study enabled scientists to devise a genetic risk score that could predict which patients with cognitive impairment would go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The score could be used when recruiting people for clinical trials of drugs aimed at treating the disease in the earliest stages. 
  • The highly collaborative project was carried out in research centres in eight partner countries including the US, Australia, and across Europe. It used the genomes of 100,000 people with Alzheimer’s and 600,000 healthy people. In the UK, the collaboration was co–led by Dr Rebecca Sims and Professor Julie Williams from The UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University.

New Alzheimer’s drug may be significant for tackling dementia

  • In 2021, a drug called aducanumab was approved by the US as it was found to help target amyloid proteins in the brain and may slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages. As Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common causes of dementia, people around the world are looking to the drug with a sense of hope.  
  • This is the first medication that targets the biological factor of disease progression – the amyloid protein. The drug hasn’t been approved by the European Medicine’s Agency (EMA); however, researchers are using the learnings from the trial results to keep developing new drug combinations which may help people living with dementia and those at risk of the condition.  
  • For this study, a third of the clinical trial participants in the UK were recruited through the NIHR Join Dementia Research service, a UK-wide service matching researchers with volunteers.

Loneliness as a prediction of dementia in older people

  • Researchers explored data from 6,677 adults in England aged 50 and older who live alone (as part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)). Every two years, over a 6-year period, participants were asked to undertake cognitive tests and face-to-face interviews. Questionnaires were taken by carers if the participants were unable to actively take part.  
  • The study focused on feelings of loneliness and looked at the close personal relationships of the participants. Those who saw friends and family members less than monthly (excluding children or spouses) were categorised as socially isolated.  
  • Throughout the study period, 220 people were diagnosed with dementia. Researchers discovered that factors such as being unmarried increased dementia risk – but being lonely increased the risk by a third.  
  • Interestingly, social isolation was not always linked to loneliness. Loneliness seemed to have links to the number of close relationships people living with dementia have, not just the number of relationships. 

The study, supported by the NIHR and the UK Economic and Social Research Council, gives researchers insight into how emotional and social connections may impact the progression of the disease. 

People from ethnic minority backgrounds face extra barriers in accessing care

  • The number of people from black, asian and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds experiencing dementia is expected to rise significantly between now and 2060. Researchers have noted that people within the BME community may be more at risk of dementia than those from white backgrounds.  
  • Findings showed that people of Black and Afro Caribbean heritage seemed to present with more symptoms of psychosis but were less likely to have been treated with antidepressants. Researchers also noted that vascular dementia, caused by a lack of blood to the brain, was more prevalent in black and Irish people living with dementia. 
  • Recognising these differences has allowed researchers to think about ways of identifying dementia risk in BME communities in a much more targeted way. The benefit of understanding cultural nuances means that going forwards, public health campaigns could be created to better identify and tackle risk factors. For example, those at risk of vascular dementia could benefit from earlier screening for conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Ongoing efforts in dementia research

New research study offers hope for former footballers at risk of dementia

  • A four year BrainHOPE study (Optimising Brain Health Outcomes in former Professional and Elite footballers) led by the University of Glasgow, and jointly funded by The Football Association and FIFIA – will compare brain health in mid-life former footballers to members of the general public.
  • It builds on the observations of the FIELD study which found risk of dementia and related disorders among former footballers was around three and half times higher than expected.
  • BrainHOPE will recruit 120 former professional footballers aged 40-59 to compare against 700 general population controls.

Investigating online resources to support carers of people living with dementia

  • This study is focusing on carers of people living with dementia, helping to support their mental health and wellbeing.
  • Half of the participants in the study will be given a leaflet containing information on caring for people living with dementia and looking after themselves also. The other half will be given access to an online training program covering the same topics, which they can access as they need to. 
  • All participants will answer questionnaires over a 6-month period, to assess their stress levels, mental health, resilience, and their knowledge of dementia. 
  • The study aims to see if an online training resource can help to reduce the distress carers may face. 
  • The study is sponsored by Bangor University and funded by the NIHR.

    Advances in dementia research would not be possible without the help of research participants, but there is still much more to do. With the number of people living with dementia expected to grow significantly over the next few decades, it’s more important than ever for researchers to have a diverse pool of volunteers to help with dementia studies. 

    Whether you have a diagnosis or not, anyone aged 18 or over can do something positive by getting involved in research.

    Join Dementia Research is delivered in partnership by the NIHR, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland. If you’d like to learn more about getting involved visit Join Dementia Research.

    How you can get involved with research

    Sign up to Be Part of Research to be contacted about a range of health and care research. Or check out our full list of studies to see if one is right for you.

    And if taking part in a study doesn’t feel right at the moment there are other ways to get involved in research.