Race on in Britain to find dementia cure by 2025

Nearly 22,000 volunteers have come forward in the last year to help the British government's aim to find a cure for dementia within a decade, the country's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) announced Friday.

The increase in volunteers eager to help researchers is a rise of 60 percent over the previous year, and has given a major boost to the ambition to develop the elusive cure by 2025, figures from NIHR revealed.

The institute said the increased participation in 100 ground breaking dementia research projects across Britain will give scientists a huge advantage in finding new treatments to prevent, treat and eventually cure the illness.

Research projects include testing whether antibiotics slow cognitive decline, investigating the role of the immune system in dementia, identifying genetic risk factors and improving end of life care for people with dementia.

Government Minister for Life Sciences George Freeman said Friday: "Dementia is a devastating condition that can have a significant impact on the lives of those affected and their families."

"Volunteers are essential to our battle against the disease and I'm delighted that so many people - with and without dementia - are coming forward to participate in ground-breaking new trials. There is still a long way to go, but with their help we hope to find a cure or disease modifying therapy by 2025. The race is on," Freeman said.

Dr Doug Brown, Director of Research and Development at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "We are delighted more people affected by dementia are being given the opportunity to take part in vital research. Not only is it essential for us to make progress towards new treatments and better care, but it could also empower people to learn more about their condition and benefit from additional support."

Department of Health figures show dementia affects 850,000 people in Britain, a figure expected to rise to more than 2 million by 2051.

Professor Martin Rossor, National Director for Dementia Research at the NIHR, said "With the continued focus on dementia research and increasing levels of funding, we expect to need even more people to participate in dementia research over the coming years."

The rise in volunteers has been partly triggered two big initiatives, the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia, launched by David Cameron and the Dementia 2020 Challenge which has been helped by a 100 million U.S. dollars grant from the Dementia Discovery Fund. Endit