More cause for concern

Two new reports, both released today, are further compounding the argument that dementia-related research needs more government dollars.

By Yasmin Noone

Over 70 per cent of Australians would actively seek a vaccination to prevent the onset of dementia if one were available, according to research from the Australian Medicines Industry .

Preliminary findings from a new report from the peak body for the pharmaceutical industry, Facing the Health of Australians, has shown that the threat of dementia generates more fear in the average Australian than does diabetes, obesity or depression.

The full report is due out early 2013 but so far, the statistics show that the number of people who worry about dementia is double that of the previous generations and that dementia is one of the nation’s most worrying health concerns.

Cancer is the condition that Australians would most like to see a cure for (47.9 per cent) but dementia comes in as the nation’s second priority (16.6 per cent), ahead of heart attacks, diabetes and depression.

Yet, when the 5,000 Australian adults aged 32-66 years were surveyed and asked to consider their concerns when thinking about the future health of their children, over a quarter cited obesity as their greatest worry, with dementia lagging well behind at just under three per cent.

Seventy per cent of survey respondents said they would undergo a genetic test to understand their future health risk but only half would agree to be tested if they knew there was a medicine available to treat that particular condition.

The research has also revealed Australian consumers’ indifference to certain diseases, such as diabetes, with only around seven per cent rating the condition as a future health concern for themselves and their children.

This is despite the diabetes incidence rising annually to epic proportions, along with predicted rates of obesity, the biggest risk factor for Type 2 onset, in years to come.

The release of these findings coincides with a new analysis, commissioned by Alzheimer’s Australia which forecasts that three million Australians will develop dementia between 2012 and 2050.

“This study has, for the first time, estimated the cumulative number of new cases of dementia in Australia that might be expected in the first half of the 21st Century, and the number of new cases that might be avoided during that period as a result of interventions to delay the onset of dementia,” the report, Modelling the impact of interventions to delay the onset of dementia in Australia, released today states.

“On the basis of conservative assumptions about prevalence, incidence and mortality rates, this study estimates that without interventions to prevent, slow or delay the diseases that cause dementia there would be an estimated 925,000 people with dementia in Australia by 2050, and over three million people cumulatively who will develop dementia between 2013 and 2050.”

The study, prepared by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre – Assessment and Better Care at the University of New South Wales, also demonstrates the potential impact of possible interventions to delay the onset of dementia on future prevalence of the condition.

“If introduced in 2020, an intervention that could delay the onset of dementia by five years could potentially reduce the number of people with dementia in 2050 by 30 per cent, and decrease the number of new cases of dementia between 2020 and 2050 by approximately 930,000.”

That means as many as 30 per cent of incident cases of dementia could be avoided with a significant government investment in dementia-related research.

President, Ita Buttrose and CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia, Glenn Rees, have both resounded the call for more government funding dollars devoted to dementia research.

“In the short-term we may be able to reduce our risk of dementia by better protecting our brain through the lifestyle changes that we know may help,” said Ms Buttrose in the report’s foreword.

“…In the longer term, research offers hope in the development of medical interventions to delay, stop or even reverse the causes of the diseases that lead to dementia.

“Progress in the development of medical therapies has been disappointing and slow.

“In part this reflects the need for a better understanding of the causes of dementia and when in the lifecycle to intervene. This demands a much a greater investment in dementia research.”

And, she added, “while Australia can claim many world leading scientists, the dementia research sector lacks capacity and has been falling behind other health research areas for over a decade”.

Australian Medicines Industry spokesman, Dr Brendan Shaw, has also agreed that the government must plunge more money into dementia-related research so that the medical community can better understand and tackle the disease.

“Dementia is an area in which medical research and development is continuing to evolve,” said Dr Shaw.

“…Some clinical trials may fail, but for every scientific setback, we learn more about the disease and get closer to developing treatments to help tackle the rising dementia epidemic.”

According to Mr Rees, dementia is fast becoming one of the major health burdens of our time. But, he said, despite recent setbacks, research and development into new treatments is ongoing and there is hope for the future.

“There are 93 clinical trials currently underway globally to help better understand, treat, and ultimately, beat dementia,” Mr Rees said.

Phase two of the Alzheimer’s Australia Fight Dementia campaign, now underway, calls on the federal government to increase funding in dementia research by $40 million per year over five years.

This, the organisation said, will bring dementia research up to the same level as other national health priority areas and help negate the future increase in the numbers of people expected to have dementia, as suggested by their recent report.

“The Fight Dementia campaign is seeking $200 million over five years in the 2013 Federal Budget to build capacity in dementia research and support new research projects and in that way help Australia move towards a world without dementia,” Mr Rees said.
 

Tags: alzheimer, buttrose, dementia-collaborative-research-centre, fight-dementia, rees, unsw, vaccine,

1 thought on “More cause for concern

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