Our business Augmentas Group has supported Alzheimer’s Research UK as its charity of 2021 to help raise awareness of this cruel disease and to raise much needed funds. The charity has set itself a challenge to find a cure for the diseases that cause dementia by 2025.

Last week, news was published that scientists have developed a vaccine that shows a reduction in the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments available for people living with Alzheimer’s in the UK, making this discovery more encouraging.

The new treatment targets a shortened form of the Alzheimer’s protein, amyloid, which other Alzheimer’s drugs have not been able to target in the past. The vaccine has been tested on two types of mice that have displayed features of the disease and PET brain scans showed an improvement in brain metabolism and brain function.

The mice were given a behavioural task where the researchers saw an improvement on their memory and thinking, two areas that, to date, haven’t been successful in human clinical trials.

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said “Like any new drug, this treatment will need to go through a series of clinical trials in people and while this discovery offers hope, this approach is a long way off being proved successful in humans.

“It’s essential that to maintain momentum in dementia research, new approaches like this are explored. We must see continued investment into dementia research to ensure no stone is left unturned when it comes to potential new treatments. And although this research is still in early stages, with potential new treatments making their way through trials, we must start to prepare the UK’s health system to be ready for new dementia treatments now.”

To read the full announcement click here.

What is Dementia?

Dementia describes different brain disorders that trigger a loss of brain function. These conditions are all usually progressive and eventually severe. And they are terminal.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting between 50 and 75 per cent of those diagnosed.

There are currently around 850,000 people with dementia in the UK. This is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040. 209,600 will develop dementia this year, that’s one every three minutes. One in six people over the age of 80 have dementia.

To put that in context, one in three of us has a close friend or family member with dementia, and there are no treatments to slow, stop or prevent the diseases, like Alzheimer’s, that cause it.

The Augmentas Group Alumni and colleagues chose Alzheimer’s Research UK as our charity to help raise funds and awareness.

Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading dementia research charity, dedicated to causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure. The charity has a huge amount of resources on its site to help and you can help it with is work and its aim of finding a long-term cure for the diseases that cause dementia by donating at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Augmentascharity2020-21

Check out the Alzheimer’s Research UK site for more information on the potential vaccine and how you can help.

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