14 November 2013
With our ageing society, Alzheimer’s and dementia is a ticking time bomb at the heart of healthcare in the UK. Already accounting for £23bn of cost to the UK, the disease has a devastating impact on those affected, and their loved ones and carers. The UK is pioneering new treatment and preventative intervention. We need both drugs to treat the disease and ways to delay and prevent onset. The Prime Minister is personally leading the UK’s dementia strategy and, with world class research like that being done by Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK has every chance of winning.
On Monday I visited Alzheimer’s Research UK’s cutting edge lab in Cambridge. Dr Livesey and his team are working on a major project using stem cells to study Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, backed by a £350,000 grant from Alzheimer’s Research UK. Using cutting-edge techniques that depend on the Nobel prize-winning research of Prof John Gurdon – the founder of the Institute – the scientists are using stem cells donated by people with a high risk of Alzheimer’s, which can be used to generate networks of functioning nerve cells in the lab. These networks resemble the complex wiring of cells in the human cerebral cortex, which makes up over three quarters of the brain and is damaged in Alzheimer’s disease. Because these stem cell-generated networks suffer similar damage, they provide a valuable tool for studying the disease and testing potential new treatments.
Today I will be again attending the Norfolk Care Conference where Dementia will be central to the discussions. Tomorrow I am seeing the frontline of Dementia care at the Wymondham Dementia Support Group (WDSG) Cafe. The café supports 30 people with dementia and their carers. WDSG has been working in partnership with age UK Norfolk, Wymondham town council and the local business community raising awareness of dementia to make Wymondham a dementia friendly community.
In December I’m delighted to have been asked to join the Dementia Summit at No10 as the Prime Minister launches the UK’s Dementia Strategy.
Click here for details of Dementia UK
Click here for details of Alzheimer’s Research UK
Click here for a link to the Wymondham Dementia Support Group
For coverage of my visit to Alzheimer’s Research UK’s cutting edge lab in Cambridge click here (PDF version).
On Monday I visited Alzheimer’s Research UK’s cutting edge lab in Cambridge. Dr Livesey and his team are working on a major project using stem cells to study Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, backed by a £350,000 grant from Alzheimer’s Research UK. Using cutting-edge techniques that depend on the Nobel prize-winning research of Prof John Gurdon – the founder of the Institute – the scientists are using stem cells donated by people with a high risk of Alzheimer’s, which can be used to generate networks of functioning nerve cells in the lab. These networks resemble the complex wiring of cells in the human cerebral cortex, which makes up over three quarters of the brain and is damaged in Alzheimer’s disease. Because these stem cell-generated networks suffer similar damage, they provide a valuable tool for studying the disease and testing potential new treatments.
Today I will be again attending the Norfolk Care Conference where Dementia will be central to the discussions. Tomorrow I am seeing the frontline of Dementia care at the Wymondham Dementia Support Group (WDSG) Cafe. The café supports 30 people with dementia and their carers. WDSG has been working in partnership with age UK Norfolk, Wymondham town council and the local business community raising awareness of dementia to make Wymondham a dementia friendly community.
In December I’m delighted to have been asked to join the Dementia Summit at No10 as the Prime Minister launches the UK’s Dementia Strategy.
Click here for details of Dementia UK
Click here for details of Alzheimer’s Research UK
Click here for a link to the Wymondham Dementia Support Group
For coverage of my visit to Alzheimer’s Research UK’s cutting edge lab in Cambridge click here (PDF version).
