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Dementia Monitoring Report: 30 November - 13 December MEDIA – PRINT G8 leaders promise to end tragedy of dementia; Fast-track global action to find cure by 2025 G8 leaders pledge to cure dementia by 2025 (The Times) Cure for dementia 'within our grasp', says Cameron (The Independent) Society: Commentary: 'It is not an inevitable part of ageing. It is a disease that needs tackling' (The Guardian) This vile disease is a modern-day plague (Daily Mirror) Dementia needs more than good intentions (The Daily Telegraph) Veteran dies after attack by dementia patient (The Daily Telegraph) Stop trying to cure Alzheimer’s – a prevent it instead: one of Britain’s top dementia experts says we’ve wasted billions on useless drugs when there’s a far simpler solution (The Daily Mail) Mediterranean diet key to dementia battle, PM told; Better diets can cut cost of dementia, doctors say (The Daily Telegraph) ‘Increase Alzheimer’s Research’ (The Daily Mail) Cameron: Help me bring to an end horror of dementia (Sunday Express) New hope as Cameron joins the battle against dementia (Sunday Express) Test will tell your risk of dementia (Jonathan Leake, The Sunday Times) A&E record for sufferers of dementia (Vincent Moss, The Sunday Mirror) Test that can give 2 year warnings of Alzheimer’s (Daily Mail) G8 ministers warned to prepare for global dementia 'time bomb' (The Times) Dementia Rise(The Sun) A monthly injection to ward off dementia may be just five years away (The Daily Telegraph) G8 dementia plea (The Daily Mirror) Health: Exercise may reduce effects of dementia (The Guardian) 4p pill could be answer to vascular dementia (The Independent) 1,000 elderly 'die of thirst in care homes' (The Daily Express) G8 urged to agree strategy (The Daily Telegraph) Dementia sufferers must have specialist care (The Daily Telegraph) Alzheimer’s a late stage of diabetes' (The Daily Mail) Pratchett: PM broke dementia promise (The Sunday Times) Dementia in ethnic groups set for big rise (The Times) New dementia 'map' will help tackle care blackspots (The Daily Express) Dementia is stealing lives because of gaps in care, says Hunt (The Daily Telegraph) A disease without shame (The Daily Telegraph)

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Page 1: 13-12-12 Dementia Monitoring Report

Dementia Monitoring Report: 30 November - 13 December

MEDIA – PRINT

G8 leaders promise to end tragedy of dementia; Fast-track global action to find cure by 2025 G8 leaders pledge to cure dementia by 2025 (The Times) Cure for dementia 'within our grasp', says Cameron (The Independent) Society: Commentary: 'It is not an inevitable part of ageing. It is a disease that needs tackling' (The Guardian) This vile disease is a modern-day plague (Daily Mirror) Dementia needs more than good intentions (The Daily Telegraph) Veteran dies after attack by dementia patient (The Daily Telegraph) Stop trying to cure Alzheimer’s – a prevent it instead: one of Britain’s top dementia experts says we’ve wasted billions on useless drugs when there’s a far simpler solution (The Daily Mail)

Mediterranean diet key to dementia battle, PM told; Better diets can cut cost of dementia, doctors say (The Daily Telegraph) ‘Increase Alzheimer’s Research’ (The Daily Mail) Cameron: Help me bring to an end horror of dementia (Sunday Express) New hope as Cameron joins the battle against dementia (Sunday Express) Test will tell your risk of dementia (Jonathan Leake, The Sunday Times) A&E record for sufferers of dementia (Vincent Moss, The Sunday Mirror) Test that can give 2 year warnings of Alzheimer’s (Daily Mail) G8 ministers warned to prepare for global dementia 'time bomb' (The Times) Dementia Rise(The Sun) A monthly injection to ward off dementia may be just five years away (The Daily Telegraph) G8 dementia plea (The Daily Mirror) Health: Exercise may reduce effects of dementia (The Guardian) 4p pill could be answer to vascular dementia (The Independent) 1,000 elderly 'die of thirst in care homes' (The Daily Express) G8 urged to agree strategy (The Daily Telegraph) Dementia sufferers must have specialist care (The Daily Telegraph) Alzheimer’s a late stage of diabetes' (The Daily Mail) Pratchett: PM broke dementia promise (The Sunday Times) Dementia in ethnic groups set for big rise (The Times) New dementia 'map' will help tackle care blackspots (The Daily Express) Dementia is stealing lives because of gaps in care, says Hunt (The Daily Telegraph) A disease without shame (The Daily Telegraph)

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MEDIA - PRINT THURSDAY 12TH DECEMBER G8 leaders promise to end tragedy of dementia; Fast-track global action to find cure by 2025 G8 leaders pledge to cure dementia by 2025 (Chris Smyth, The Times) Dementia should be curable by 2025, the world's most powerful countries pledged yesterday as they agreed a deal to "catch up with a runaway human tragedy". New treatments will be fast-tracked for approval as part of an international action plan that David Cameron said would start a global fightback against the condition. At a G8 conference in London, countries vowed to tackle dementia in the same way as cancer or HIV/Aids, pledging significant extra funding and more scientific co-operation. A global dementia envoy will be appointed to keep the condition high on the political agenda and to make sure that international research efforts are properly co-ordinated. Further G8 meetings will be held next year and in 2015 to review progress. Campaigners praised the agreement as "the best possible news for people living with dementia", but some experts said that it was "grossly over-optimistic" to expect a cure. About 800,000 people in Britain have dementia, a degenerative brain condition that affects memory and mental agility. That figure is expected to double by 2050, with cases around the world projected to triple to 135 million by the same date. As official figures revealed yesterday that 85,000 of today's 65-year-olds will live to the age of 100, Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said that dealing with dementia was "the litmus test of seriousness about tackling the challenges of an ageing society". Mr Cameron told the conference: "Dementia steals lives, it wrecks families, it breaks hearts and that is why all of us here are so utterly determined to beat it. In generations past, the world came together to take on the great killers. We stood against malaria, cancer, HIV and Aids and we are just as resolute today. I want December 11, 2013 to go down as the day that the global fightback began. "The aim of trying to find a cure or disease-halting therapy by 2025 by a big collective boost to research-funding is within our grasp." Mr Hunt said that the aim was for a cure or "something that can stop the disease in its tracks" in the same way that anti-retroviral drugs can give people with HIV/Aids a normal life. He said that this would be a "big, big challenge" but added: "If you don't aim for the stars you're not going to land on the Moon".

MEDIA – WEB SOURCES

Global dementia set to treble by 2050, says G8 briefing (Medical News Today) £5.6 billion worth of deals signed in China (UK Gov Press Release)

Excess deaths rose by a third last winter (NursingTimes.net)

Misfolded proteins are capable of forming tree-like aggregates in Alzheimer's disease (Medical News Today)

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He said the ambition would galvanise the international community and that 2025 was picked because "it's far enough away to allow the real advances in science that you do need to happen, but it's not so far away that we can't be held to that commitment". Calling dementia "one of the last bastions of stigma and fear when it comes to illness", he added: "The comparison people always make is with cancer ... the moment when people started seriously putting money into research was when people stopped sweeping it under the carpet. I hope today will be the same turning point for dementia." Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation, praised the "ground-breaking proposals to stimulate research and development to catch up with a runaway human tragedy". She said that millions of people could benefit from the transformative deal, promising that trials and regulatory approval for new dementia drugs would be speeded up. "Dementia is associated with ageing but it's not a normal process. You don't have to have dementia," she said. Ronald Petersen, chairman of the US Alzheimer's Advisory Council and a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said that there would be no silver bullet, adding: "What I think is realistic is that we might be able to delay the onset or slow the progression. "If we're able to push it back three to five years, that is a big gain. People would be able to stay at home with their families. This is the defining disease of our generation but the hope is that it won't be the defining disease of the next generation." Health ministers from France, Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, Russia and the US committed in yesterday's G8 communiqué to "action to reduce the risk to health and to economic development which dementia currently presents". Hilary Evans, of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "This action plan is the best possible news for people living with dementia. It tells them that the world will fight for them, and that the best and most collaborative science is our greatest weapon. With the right investment, we can be more optimistic than ever that we will meet if not exceed the G8's 2025 target." Cure for dementia 'within our grasp', says Cameron (The Independent) The goal of finding a treatment to cure or halt dementia by 2025 is "within our grasp", Prime Minister David Cameron has said, as he announced a doubling in UK funding for research into the disease. Mr Cameron, who was addressing a G8 conference on the condition in London, wants British state investment in dementia research to double to £122m by 2025. WEDNESDAY 11TH DECEMBER Society: Commentary: 'It is not an inevitable part of ageing. It is a disease that needs tackling' (Jeremy Hughes, The Guardian) We've heard it heralded as a "time bomb", "epidemic", and "our greatest health challenge yet". The truth is that dementia will soon touch every family in the land. Around 800,000 people in the UK are facing a condition that slowly robs them of their ability to remember, speak and connect with their loved ones. One in three people over 65 will develop dementia in their lifetime.

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But I write this not with the aim to frighten with alarmist statistics - but instead to convey the scale of the opportunity in front of us, as leaders from the G8 nations gather together today in London to tackle dementia on a global scale. Never before has a prime minister used the presidency of the G8 to take action on a single disease. The G8 nations led the "war on cancer" and the co-ordinated response to HIV and AIDs, both of which resulted in pioneering new treatments and a better understanding of the diseases. With no cure for dementia and the few treatments that do exist having limited value, sustained investment in research is badly needed. By the end of today, it is my hope that world leaders will have committed to meaningful, shared steps to drive forward dementia research. A global action plan, underpinned by a significant increase in funding for research, must be the tangible outcome of this summit. Years of underfunding have led to a relatively small workforce of researchers, clinicians and care professionals with expertise in dementia. Governments need to ensure we have the right infrastructure and attractive career paths to draw, and retain, talented individuals to the field. This will be vital to increasing the number, and quality, of clinical trials. There are currently more trials ongoing into hay fever than into some of the most common forms of dementia including Alzheimer's disease. For the people with dementia, there is inadequate research into care interventions. With 80% of people living in care homes having either dementia or severe memory problems, we need to be able to provide care homes with research-based guidance on the best forms of support for their vulnerable residents. We want to see all researchers follow the lead set by the Alzheimer's Society of involving people with dementia, and their carers, in selecting research priorities. They, after all, know what it is like to live with dementia 24/7. I'm often asked: "Do you think you'll see a cure for dementia in your lifetime?" This is impossible to answer with any certainty. But if dementia research isn't made a priority now, one million people in the UK will develop this condition in the next 10 years. It is not an inevitable part of the ageing process. It is a disease that needs tackling as much as cancer. I've heard it said before that one of the hardest things about getting a diagnosis of dementia is that there are so few treatments for the condition. I long to see a day when people can say "I defeated dementia" in the same way that hundreds of thousands of people battle and overcome cancer every year. So, if I could say one thing to the leaders of the G8 nations it would be this: now is the time for concerted and sustained action on dementia. A strategic, global approach is vital if we are to find a means of prevention and effective treatment to improve the lives of those living with dementia today and in the years to come. Jeremy Hughes is chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society This vile disease is a modern-day plague; FIONA PHILLIPS TALKS AHEAD OF G8 DEMENTIA SUMMIT (Fiona Phillips, Daily Mirror) Thank goodness David Cameron says he's making it his personal mission to tackle dementia, the vile modern-day plague which affects 44 million people worldwide. The illness is now a huge challenge we ignore at our peril because by 2030 more than 76 million people will be in its grasp — with the figure hitting 135 million by 2050 — at great cost to the world economy and human suffering.

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The Prime Minister will lead a global fightback today as health leaders gather in London for the first ever G8 Dementia Summit. It's hoped the pooling of expertise will result in joined-up action for effective treatment, cures and improvements in care. This should come as heartening news for those who, like me, have witnessed quiet murmurs about this stigma-laden disease gradually - oh, too gradually - develop into a roar. For years I have been banging on about dementia following the heartbreak of seeing both my parents suffer the cruelty of Alzheimer's Disease. It is not merely older people forgetting things and uttering amusing, offthe-wall thoughts. In fact, it is not solely an older person's disease - my mum showed signs in her early-50s, my dad in his mid-60s and I've met people in their 30s coping with their lives being gradually, relentlessly broken down. It is not just forgetting, although that alone wipes out the ability to carry out normal, everyday life. Try accessing your bank account, the cashpoint, computer passwords when they've literally been wiped from your memory; try turning up to appointments when you've forgotten they exist; try paying with cash when you've lost the ability to count; try cooking when you have no idea what comes next; try dressing yourself when you don't know your underpants from your socks. Dementia is a devastating condition that slowly destroys all that makes you. Along with this it throws up hallucinations, night-terrors, severe agitation, sleeplessness, depression, incontinence and eventually the inability to talk, walk or swallow. Dignity, by the way, walks off right near the start. And never comes back. The emotional and economic impact on carers cannot be measured. I get countless messages from people who can't manage with the lack of help available. Caring for a person with dementia often means regular contact with police, when they go missing; with the fire service when they set the kitchen ablaze and with social services, who often don't grasp victims' round-theclock needs. So it's good all of this is on the agenda at today's summit. But it can only really be wonderful news with a definitive commitment to properly fund research for a cure. Cancer, heart disease and stroke all receive around eight times more for research, despite the fact people now fear Alzheimer's most of all. The Government has pledged to up cash to £66million by 2015. It's not enough. The PM knows this and hopes the summit will lead to more collaborative global research. He also hopes pharmaceutical giants will give more priority to developing affordable treatments. So, the dementia murmur has, at last, turned into a roar. Now G8 leaders have to come up with more. More understanding, especially at GP level, more effective treatments, more specialist care, more specialist care homes, more NHS funding for continuing care. MORE of all of that. But nothing LESS than more funding, more joined-up research for a cure. For those who have suffered, those who are still suffering and those who will suffer, we deserve nothing less. Dementia needs more than good intentions (The Daily Telegraph)

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There is always a danger with single–issue international summits that they allow politicians to parade their compassionate credentials, yet make little difference to people's lives. Today's gathering of ministers, health experts and drugindustry leaders in London, to discuss a global response to the scourge of dementia, must avoid falling into such a trap. This condition is perhaps the world's most pressing medical and social problem and will become the biggest burden on health–care systems. The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 115 million people will be living with dementia by 2050. The principal aim of today's summit is to identify and agree on a new international approach for future research, with a more coordinated and collaborative approach to the development of treatments and therapies. But as always with such initiatives, the follow–up matters more than the expression of good intentions. Here, for instance, a National Dementia Strategy for England was published to much fanfare in 2009, promising to give the illness the primacy it merited after nearly a decade of cuts in research funding. The five–year plan included a commitment to setting up memory clinics in every town and ensuring that all hospitals and care homes had a senior clinician with specific responsibility for dementia. A year later, however, the National Audit Office reported that while the plan was ambitious and comprehensive, there had not been "a robust approach to implementation". Furthermore, there had been no basic training for health–care professionals on how to understand and work with people with dementia, and a lack of strong leadership to push things forward. Last year, a dementia task force established by David Cameron reported that under–diagnosis of dementia was the norm, and less than a third of GPs believed they had received sufficient training to diagnose and manage the disease. More recently, Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, lamented the wide variations in dementia diagnosis across the country. With the end of the five–year strategy in sight, many of the issues that it set out to address remain. We know how great a challenge this disease presents to future generations, yet it receives far less money than cancer research. More can also be done to encourage people in middle age to take basic preventative measures, such as regular exercise. But one thing that is not an option is to think that today's summit marks the culmination of a process, rather than a beginning. There are no quick and easy political returns from such events; yet failure to act will have calamitous consequences many years from now. TUESDAY 10TH DECEMBER Veteran dies after attack by dementia patient (Nick Collins, The Daily Telegraph) A WAR veteran has died after being violently beaten by a dementia patient armed with a bottle at an NHS hospital. Richard Bowman, 86, was found curled up with major injuries to his head, leg and arm after the incident at West Suffolk Hospital and died 12 days later, on Saturday. His family described his care as a "national disgrace" and claimed that staff should never have allowed him to be left alone with the patient, who is also believed to have bipolar disorder. His son, Charles Hawes, 63, told the Daily Mail it was unclear how long the "atrocious" attack went on for, but that Mr Bowman appeared to have adopted the foetal position because he could not fight back. "He was laying on his bed getting ready to fall asleep and this chap just came over and started laying into him with a bottle," he said. "He was much too weak and elderly to fight back." Mr Bowman, who served with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was admitted to the hospital in Bury St Edmunds with a chest infection on Nov 25, after making repeated visits in recent years.

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He underwent emergency surgery, including skin grafts, following the attack, but doctors said his injuries were so severe that he would never be able to walk again. Members of his family have questioned a post mortem examination which found that Mr Bowman died from natural causes. Although it is impossible to be sure that the attack cost Mr Bowman his life, surgery on his leg and a skin graft would not have helped his condition, Mr Hawes said. "You'd expect staff to have been there at the hospital on the ward," he added. "There will have to be an inquiry." Mr Bowman, from Exning near Ely, served in Greece for four years and married a Greek woman. They had two sons but later separated, and Mr Bowman spent his remaining years with his second partner, Jackie. He ran several businesses including an estate agency, and once met the Queen during his time as a governor of a school in London. Suffolk police said Mr Bowman's death was not being treated as suspicious. A spokesman for West Suffolk Hospital said: "We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere condolences to the patient's family. "We are taking this incident extremely seriously and are carrying out a full internal investigation." In 2002, an elderly female cancer patient was raped in the lavatory of a mixed–sex ward at King's College Hospital in south London. The attack on the 71–year–old grandmother came after Labour had failed to deliver a pledge to scrap mixed wards. Stop trying to cure Alzheimer’s – a prevent it instead: one of Britain’s top dementia experts says we’ve wasted billions on useless drugs when there’s a far simpler solution (The Daily Mail) We've been waiting for a breakthrough drug treatment for Alzheimer's for decades. An astonishing £25 billion has been spent worldwide on trying to develop one, and yet we still don't have anything that can slow down, let alone stop, the disease. It's true that drugs such as Aricept may help some patients with their symptoms, but only for a short while. That leaves patients and their families in the hopeless position of waiting for the drug companies to discover a treatment. What's so cruel is that no one has ever made it clear to them that it doesn't have to be like that. There are other options. There are things that can be done to improve the situation right now — but governments, charities and other research bodies need to make a long overdue switch to a new strategy: preventing the disease. What is amazing is that nearly all that £25 billion has been spent researching and testing ways to stop just one thing that goes wrong in patients' brains.

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The idea was to develop drugs to block or clear amyloid plaque — the sticky damaged protein associated with dying neurons. It was a reasonable idea, but concentrating on it exclusively — without even considering any other options — has condemned millions to a decline that might have been slowed down or prevented. How many billions do you have to spend without a result before admitting it's time to also look elsewhere? What we should have spent some money on is research into prevention. If you can't reverse the damage, the obvious step is to stop it happening at all. We know it is possible. In fact, research suggests that a strong commitment to prevention could cut the number of Alzheimer's victims by 20 per cent by 2025. What we need is a big increase in public funding for research into the prevention of Alzheimer's. As you may have read in yesterday's Daily Mail, one key thing we need to address is people's diet. For instance, switching to a so-called Mediterranean diet — rich in fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and olive oil — could have a real impact. Tomorrow, the G8 summit on dementia opens in London, to develop a co-ordinated global action plan for tackling Alzheimer's. I'm one of the organisers of a statement, signed by more than 100 leading international dementia experts from 36 countries, that's been sent to health ministers calling for a major shift in direction. We believe any action plan can't just involve drugs — that is imperative to have large-scale clinical trials of ways to cut your risk of developing Alzheimer's with improved diet and lifestyle. Many lifestyle factors linked to heart disease also increase your risk of Alzheimer's, including high blood pressure, smoking and cholesterol levels. Even more important, there are virtually no public funds available for trials to find out how exactly they contribute to Alzheimer's. Yet what is shocking is that so little in the UK is spent on research into Alzheimer's prevention. Over the past six years, UK Research Councils, which are funded by the Government, spent £140 million studying Alzheimer's. However, just 1p in every £1,000 went on prevention. And of the additional £49 million for dementia research pledged by this Government last year, not a single penny went on prevention. This is tragic. For years we have had a chance to do something that had a reasonable chance of significantly reducing the number of people developing this disease. Yet the Government and charities ignored it. Meanwhile billions went on a drug programme that was never shown to work. You might wonder how we can say prevention will definitely work and yet also claim it hasn't been researched. In fact, prevention has been tested — by accident. The proportion of people developing dementia has, surprisingly, been falling for the past 20 years. The Lancet reported earlier this year that estimates for dementia in England should be reduced by almost 25 per cent. This is partly the result of a deliberate prevention programme — but one aimed at heart disease, not Alzheimer's. For the past 20 years, people have been encouraged to make healthy lifestyle changes, such as stopping smoking and lowering blood pressure to protect their heart.

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This, along with other social factors such as improved educational opportunities, has had a clear impact on Alzheimer's risk. A healthy heart makes for a healthy brain. But just relying on measures already in place to cut heart disease risk isn't nearly enough. Although fewer people suffer heart disease, there has been a huge rise in obesity and diabetes, both also major risk factors for Alzheimer's. Cutting Alzheimer's rates is going to involve tackling diabetes risk factors as well. Despite little funding, there have been pockets of important research on prevention. A controlled trial I ran in Oxford three years ago showed brain shrinkage was cut by an impressive 90 per cent in people with memory problems after they took high levels of B vitamins. Scientists in the U.S., Germany and Australia have also shown that supplements of omega 3 fatty acids, as well as exercise, may cut the risk of Alzheimer's. Exercise seems to cut risk in several ways, including increasing oxygen available to the brain and encouraging new brain cells to grow. It also makes blockages in the brain's blood supply less likely, cuts damaging inflammation and reduces depression (which raises Alzheimer's risk). A number of researchers now suggest that eating lots of sugar and other refined carbohydrates, which raise glucose levels in the blood, contribute more to diabetes risk than saturated fat does. But only a proper programme of research will show for sure. This is already starting to happen on the continent. The European Dementia Prevention Initiative has four trials underway looking at the effect on Alzheimer's when you target heart disease risks and other lifestyle factors. The big drug companies are never going to do this sort of research because it doesn't make them money: they can't patent exercise or nutrients. So what will make a difference is dedicated government funding for prevention. And what's needed is more than just money, although that would obviously make a big difference! We need a shift from thinking that only drug research and genetics and cell biology are proper science. It is very exciting being at the cutting edge of brain science, unravelling complex gene changes that cause neurons to die and damaged protein clumps to form. Yet big gains in heart disease came from tackling risk factors such as smoking and raised blood pressure. I believe real progress to stop the terrifying rise in Alzheimer's will come in the same way. Crucially, this creates lots of options — things people can try in their daily lives that may make a difference. A serious drive for prevention will mean people don't have to feel helpless any more. The failure to take the likes of diet, exercise and supplements seriously is very galling because at Oxford we've shown it's possible to slow down the Alzheimer's type brain shrinkage with B vitamins costing pennies a day. Yet scientists still regularly claim there is no way to modify the progression of this ghastly disease. What they mean is there's no drug to do that. A senior scientist with a pharmaceutical company made this very clear when he spoke to me after I'd given a talk about my research. He described the result as 'phenomenal', adding: 'If it had been a drug, it would be worth billions'.

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For the sake of all of us, and our families, ignoring all sorts of possible treatments just because they won't make billions can't go on. David Smith is Emeritus professor of pharmacology at Oxford University and founder of the research project OPTIMA (Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing) MONDAY 9TH DECEMBER Mediterranean diet key to dementia battle, PM told; Better diets can cut cost of dementia, doctors say (The Daily Telegraph) CONVERTING Britons to a Mediterranean diet should be placed at the centre of the Government's fight against dementia, leading clinicians have said in a letter to David Cameron. Eleven senior doctors, including Claire Gerada, former chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, called for a diet rich in vegetables and low in meat to be placed at the heart of health policy. In a letter to Mr Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, they said that improving public health would be a stronger weapon in the fight against dementia than any drug treatment. Their comments came ahead of a crucial summit in London on Wednesday, at which the G8 group of nations will meet to plan a new approach to research and treatment of the disease. The letter, signed by experts from Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Greece, calls for governments to invest more in teaching the public, including children, about the benefits of a healthy diet and life–style. There is currently no effective treatment for dementia, but the protective effect of a healthy diet is being "largely ignored", they said. Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiology registrar at Croydon University Hospital and one of the letter's signatories, said: "We are not going to overcome the increasing burden of chronic diseases by prescribing more pills. The medical profession has itself been guilty of placing too much emphasis on drugs, the benefits of which are often grossly exaggerated and fuelled by a powerful pharmaceutical industry, who naturally wish to expand the use of their drugs for financial gain. "The evidence base for the Mediterranean diet in preventing all of the chronic diseases that are plaguing the Western world is overwhelming." Dr Richard Hoffman, a GP and one of the lead authors of the letter, added: "The Mediterranean diet is possibly the most effective way of helping to prevent dementia." The Prime Minister has pledged to use Britain's presidency of the G8 to lead coordinated international action on the condition, which currently costs the world an estimated £370billion a year. In a recent review of evidence, nine out of 12 studies found that people on a Mediterranean diet had better cognitive function, lower rates of cognitive decline and a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. Simon Capewell, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, said: "Poor diet causes more diseases than physical inactivity plus smoking plus alcohol combined."

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A rise in middle–age drinkers is putting a strain on the NHS, according to figures which show that more than half a million people have been hospitalised because of drink or drugs in the last three years. The majority of the 533,302 emergency admissions in England since 2010 have been due to conditions related to alcohol abuse, such as liver problems, which now cost the NHS £607million a year, according to figures seen by the Guardian. More than a fifth of the total admissions were people in their 40s. The numbers were published by Dr Foster, the health care data specialists. 'Global crisis' Hopes for new defining moment Dementia research is decades behind cancer, a leading charity said, as it called on world leaders to tackle the "global dementia crisis". An Alzheimer's Society spokesman said: "Just as president [Richard] Nixon galvanised the world in 1971 with his war on cancer with the National Cancer Act, the charity calls for similar action on the global dementia crisis. "The G8 summit could be the defining moment for dementia that people look back on many years in the future." Six times more UK researchers work on cancer than dementia, the charity said. ‘Increase Alzheimer’s Research’ (The Daily Mail) DEMENTIA researchers are still decades behind the work of teams looking to cure cancer, a charity has claimed. Calling on world leaders to step up and tackle the 'global crisis', the Alzheimer's Society pointed out that drugs to reduce the symptoms but not cure dementia were developed four decades after drugs that cure some cancers became available. The charity wants leaders to commit to driving forward further research when they gather for this week's G8 dementia summit. Chief executive Jeremy Hughes said: 'It is shocking how dementia research is decades behind cancer. Currently there are six times more UK researchers working on cancer than dementia.' He added: 'Many cancers can now be cured, so it is time to find a cure for the millions living with dementia worldwide.' SUNDAY 8TH DECEMBER Cameron: Help me bring to an end horror of dementia; EXCLUSIVE (Sunday Express) DAVID CAMERON last night vowed to tackle the "national crisis" of Britain's dementia sufferers. Writing in the Sunday Express, he challenged Britons to follow his example and join the 40,000 people who have become Dementia Friends to help sufferers cope. Speaking before this week's G8 Dementia Summit, Mr Cameron pledged that Britain would fight the condition that affects more than 800,000 people.

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He said: "I have met these people and listened to their stories and as a father, son and husband I've been incredibly moved. "They have my deepest respect. And they have my pledge: We are transforming Britain's response to dementia." New hope as Cameron joins the battle against dementia; OPINION (Sunday Express) DEMENTIA is the scourge of our age. It is an illness unlike any other: robbing the sufferer of personality, dignity and ultimately the ability to perform the most basic human functions. It is a cause of severe distress, not just to the patient but to his or her family, forced to watch an almost unbearable decline in their loved ones and powerless to halt its progress. As we continue to live much longer, dementia is also a growing problem that will affect all of us, regardless of whether we personally suffer from the disease. That is why we are delighted the Prime Minister is writing so movingly in the Sunday Express today, signalling his determination that Britain will lead the fight against this horrible condition. Families are torn apart by dementia, with almost intolerable strains put on carers who, even now, are given very little support. Mr Cameron has sometimes been unfairly accused of being out of touch: as he proves today, quite the opposite is true. He clearly feels for what so many families in this country are going through and understands that this is a growing crisis we must meet head-on. The PM and the Government have had a good week: the economy is moving again, Britain is on the mend and all because he and his colleagues had the courage to stick to their guns. We are certain he will do the same when it comes to fighting dementia. His idea about Dementia Friends is an excellent one and very deserving of support, which we are only too happy to give and would urge all of you to join the scheme. Together we really can defeat this terrible disease. Test will tell your risk of dementia (Jonathan Leake, The Sunday Times) DAVID CAMERON will use this week's G8 summit on dementia to launch a UK research programme to identify those at risk before any symptoms appear. The prime minister, who has described dementia as "the quiet crisis", will back the programme led by the West London Mental Health NHS Trust. The research will subject 300 volunteers aged 40-59 to brain scans and tests to measure the build-up of amyloid, a protein associated with Alzheimer's. The tests will be repeated over the years to determine if such factors change and, if so, how those changes are linked to disease. The researchers hope the results will help to develop a way of predicting Alzheimer's. Craig Ritchie, director of research and development at the trust, said 25% of the NHS's adult hospital beds were taken up by dementia patients. "We want to work out a way of scoring people so that we can tell them their Alzheimer's risk and then try offering them interventions to reduce the risk," he said. Scientists from Cardiff University will publish research this week showing that the risk of dementia is intimately linked with lifestyle, especially exercise levels and smoking.

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Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer's Society, which co-funded the research, said: "This study provides more evidence to show that healthy living could significantly reduce the chances of developing dementia." A&E record for sufferers of dementia (Vincent Moss, The Sunday Mirror) A RECORD 220,000 dementia sufferers ended up in A&E last year. Experts warned cuts to social care made sufferers even more vulnerable as they were not getting the right help in the community. The number of unplanned admissions via A&E has soared by 23 per cent since David Cameron became PM. Dementia costs £23billion a year — more than cancer, stroke and heart disease combined. The news comes ahead of a major summit this week of world leaders on dealing with the illness. Dr Alison Cook of the Alzheimer's Society said: "Sufferers are failed by a system which drives them to A&E when they should be able to access good care in the community." Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "By cutting councils to the bone, the most vulnerable are turning to A&E for support." SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER Test that can give 2 year warnings of Alzheimer’s (Daily Mail) A NEW and 'exceptionally accurate' test can predict if a person will develop Alzheimer's disease within the next two years. The combined brain scan and memory exam has a 90 per cent accuracy rate in determining whether people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) will go on to develop Alzheimer's. Currently the disease is often diagnosed late, sometimes up to ten years after the first pathological changes in the brain. Earlier diagnosis means patients can have treatment that could delay or stave off brain changes, say researchers at the University of Montreal, Canada. Forty-five patients with MCI were given recall and recognition tasks - both very good indicators of dementia. They were also given brain scans. Images that showed thinning in some areas of the brain proved to be very predictive of those at risk. MCI is the intermediate stage between the normal memory loss that comes with ageing and early Alzheimer's disease. It does not automatically lead to developing Alzheimer's. Sylvie Belleville, professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, said: 'It is when combining and analysing the results from both methods that we could achieve such an exceptional level of accuracy. The clinical benefits of these extra two years are enormous.' Jessica Smith, from the Alzheimer's Society, said it could one day help the 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK. But she called for more money to be invested in research.

THURSDAY 5TH DECEMBER G8 ministers warned to prepare for global dementia 'time bomb' (Tom Knowles, The Times)

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The number of people living with dementia has risen to 44 million around the world, a rise of 22 per cent in the past three years. The illness has become a "ticking time bomb", scientists warned, as it was predicted that sufferers would triple to 135 million by 2050. Dementia costs Britain £23 billion a year — more than cancer, stroke and heart disease combined. The new figures come as researchers begin clinical trials for a drug that could delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease. However, Doug Brown, director of research for the Alzheimer's Society, cautioned: "These trials do have the potential to be positive. That said, it's still not definite that they will be successful." Published in advance of the G8 summit on dementia in London next week, the report from Alzheimer Disease International estimates that for Western Europe alone, dementia cases will double from 7.8 million at present to 16 million in 2050. Dr Brown added that the summit needed to ensure that dementia became a health priority across the world. "There is a dementia ticking time bomb, and if we look at this globally there is arguably a global dementia disaster on the horizon. We must do as much as we can now to try and reduce the impact dementia has," he said. The British actress Carey Mulligan has written a letter to the G8 health ministers, published in The Times today, asking them to commit to more funding for dementia research. The star of The Great Gatsby said: "Since my own grandmother, Nans, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I have experienced at first hand just how terribly painful and frightening dementia can be for both the person diagnosed and their family. On behalf of all those who have dementia today, and the future generations who might still be spared, I would urge the G8 to deliver." The ageing population is believed to be the biggest contributor to increasing numbers of dementia sufferers, but other risk factors, such as diabetes and obesity, could mean an even bigger problem in the future. In Britain, 800,000 people live with a form of dementia, more than half of whom have Alzheimer's. By 2023, this will reach one million. There are no treatments to stop or delay dementia and it is the most feared health condition among the over-55s. DEMENTIA RISE (The Sun) CASES of dementia will more than triple over the next 40 years, a shock report has found. The number living with the condition has soared by 22 per cent globally to 44million in three years. Experts, who meet in London next week, predict it will hit 76million by 2030 and 135million by 2050. A monthly injection to ward off dementia may be just five years away (Laura Donnelly, The Daily Telegraph) MONTHLY injections to prevent dementia could soon be available, with leading scientists optimistic of making a major breakthrough in their development within five years. Researchers say a new drug has shown some promise when used for patients with mild dementia, and might be yet more effective if given to those at risk of disease long before they are likely to display any symptoms.

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Dr Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said scientists were "full of hope" that a breakthrough in drug therapy to delay the onset of dementia could come within five years. If further trials on the drug succeed, it could mean that those with a family history of dementia are given monthly injections a decade before they are likely to show any signs of the disease – in the same way that millions of people now take statins to ward off heart disease, he said. New global forecasts published today warn that the number of people living with dementia is expected to almost double, with 76million sufferers by 2030. Scientists are calling for increased investment in research into the disease, which currently receives about one eighth of the total funding spent on cancer trials. Speaking ahead of a G8 summit on dementia in London next week, Dr Karran said recent studies have suggested that a drug called solanezumab may delay the onset of disease, and halt problems with brain function and behaviour in those with mild dementia. The researchers originally tested the drug on patients with mild to moderate dementia, where the treatment did not achieve effective results. But when analysts examined the impact of the drug only on those with mild dementia, they found it had an effect both on their daily behaviour and the functioning of their brain and memory. A new study in the US will further examine the impact only on patients with mild dementia. If the trials prove that the drugs work, it would be "logical" to prescribe them to patients preventively, Dr Karran said, given that changes in the brain associated with dementia can occur a decade before symptoms are shown. Dr Karran said the promise of the drug, and of two other treatments now undergoing trials, left him optimistic that a breakthrough was on the horizon, despite years of disappointment in the field of dementia research. "I am full of hope that we are going to have a breakthrough in five years," he said. Currently, the only drugs used for dementia can mask symptoms, but do not delay the onset of disease. Brain scans have shown that changes in the brains of patients with diseases such as Alzheimer's can occur a decade before a person displays symptoms. Providing people with antibody drugs five or 10 years before the condition would otherwise develop could have a "drastic impact" on the prevalence of the disease, Dr Karran said. Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development for the Alzheimer's Society, said: "If we can delay the onset by five years we could probably cut the numbers with dementia in half – and recent research evidence suggests this could be a possibility." Next week science and health ministers from G8 countries will meet in London. Charities called on them to draw up a global plan to tackle dementia. G8 DEMENTIA PLEA (The Daily Mirror) CASES of dementia worldwide will rise to 76 million by 2030, experts have warned.

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Since the last estimates three years ago, cases have risen 22% to 44 million and are set to double in western Europe by 2050. The G8 Dementia Summit next week will be under pressure to create an action plan to deal with the "global epidemic". Marc Wortmann, of Alzheimer Disease International, said: "It's vital the World Health Organisation makes dementia a priority." Jeremy Hughes, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Lack of funding means dementia research is falling behind other conditions. "The G8 is our once-in-a-generation chance to conquer this condition."

WEDNESDAY 4TH DECEMBER

Health: Exercise may reduce effects of dementia (The Guardian) Physical activity may improve memory, attention and general cognitive function among the growing number of people with dementia, according to research in a leading medical journal. The findings, published today in the Cochrane Library, are among the first to suggest that regular exercise - which previous studies have said can help prevent dementia - can also bring some relief from its symptoms. The study, led by Dorothy Forbes, an associate professor at the University of Alberta in Canada, is a meta-analysis of 16 previous studies. It updates a similar exercise Cochrane undertook in 2008 that examined four pieces of research and produced no concrete findings. The new study, though, has led the researchers to conclude: "It is thought that exercise might be useful in treating dementia or slowing its progression, through improvements in the ability to carry out everyday tasks and positive effects on mental processes such as memory and attention." Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Even in the later stages of dementia, people can benefit from different types of activities such as gardening or singing or even seated exercises." G8 ministers will attend a summit on dementia in London next Wednesday. 4p pill could be answer to vascular dementia (The Independent) A pill that costs just 4p per day is being trialled to discover if it can be used as the first-ever treatment for the second most common form of dementia. The Alzheimer's Society and the British Heart Foundation are backing a £2.25m clinical trial of the widely prescribed blood pressure drug amlodipine, to test its effectiveness in improving the symptoms of vascular dementia, caused by problems with the blood supply to the brain. Nearly 600 people will be recruited for the trial, after the drug significantly improved memory and cognitive health in initial studies with small groups. Professor Peter Passmore, of Queen's University Belfast, said the trial could move research a "step closer" to improving outcomes in the next decade.

MONDAY 2ND DECEMBER

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1,000 elderly 'die of thirst in care homes' (Nathalie Chalk, The Daily Express) MORE than 1,000 care home residents have died of thirst over the past decade, it was reported last night. Being left without water and becoming severely dehydrated was linked to 1,158 deaths of elderly and vulnerable patients between 2003 and 2012. Dr Alison Cook, from the Alzheimer's Society, said: "How can we call ourselves civilised when people are left to starve or die of thirst? It is an utter disgrace that they are ever left without the most basic care." Some 318 care home residents died from starvation or when severely malnourished over the same period, and 2,815 deaths were related to bed sores. The shock figures about the poor treatment of care home residents in England and Wales were released under Freedom of Information laws from the Office for National Statistics. The real figures are expected to be far higher because residents who died while in hospital were not included. Dot Gibson, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, called for an urgent overhaul in social care. She said: "It is not good enough for ministers or the care regulator to talk about making improvements by 2015 when, in the meantime, older people are dying from neglect. "The public would be outraged if animals were treated in the same way - we need to show the same compassion when it comes to caring for our elderly loved ones." Last year the Care Quality Commission issued 818 warning notices to adult social care services in England - around two thirds more than the preceding year. Norman Lamb, the Care and Support Minister, said the deaths from thirst and starvation were "entirely unacceptable". G8 urged to agree strategy (The Daily Telegraph) Charities have urged world leaders to draw up a shared global plan to tackle dementia, as they meet for the first G8 summit on the condition. David Cameron has said he will use Britain's presidency of the G8 to lead coordinated international action when world leaders meet in London next week. In a letter, published in The Daily Telegraph, the heads of three major charities for Alzheimer's disease write that dementia is "spiralling out of control" and "fast becoming one of the world's largest and most expensive health issues". They call on global leaders to act now to commit to "meaningful, shared steps to drive forward dementia research". Dementia sufferers must have specialist care (Max Pemberton, The Daily Telegraph) One evening several years ago, my Gran telephoned me in a distressed state. She said that she hadn't wanted to worry me before, but she was concerned about my grandfather. A few weeks previously, he'd gone up to the high street to do some shopping and a few other errands. He had made the trip on countless occasions, but this time he was gone for hours.

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He then appeared but didn't seem himself. He hadn't done any shopping and was still clutching the money he'd left the house with. He couldn't explain where he'd been or what he'd done. In the days that followed she began to notice other odd things. He seemed more than usually forgetful and confused. Although in his mid-80s then, my grandfather had always been sharp, independent and quickwitted. He'd had a few funny turns and on one occasion had been taken to hospital, where he and my grandmother were told that it was likely he'd suffered a ministroke known as a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA). Otherwise, he was in good health. From what my Gran told me, I suspected vascular dementia - a type of dementia that is caused by changes to the blood flow to the brain. It is often due to a series of small strokes over time. I suggested they see their GP as soon as possible. My grandfather was referred to the local memory service and visited by two people who spent an hour with him. Afterwards they told my Gran that it wasn't dementia. In their view, he was becoming lazy because she was doing too much for him. She phoned me again in tears, believing that she was responsible for her husband's deterioration. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. No doctor would have come to the conclusion these two assessors had. No blood tests had been done, no brain scan ordered. They'd failed to pick up on the history of mini-strokes. I spoke to my boss at the time, a renowned dementia specialist, and he laughed when I told him what had happened. He advised me to find out the qualifications of those who had done the assessment and if they weren't clinicians, demand that my grandfather's diagnosis be reviewed by a doctor specialising in dementia. It turned out that my grandfather had been seen by a social worker and an occupational therapist. Now, I have great respect for both professions, but neither is clinically trained. My grandfather was eventually seen by a consultant who confirmed vascular dementia. What if I hadn't been a doctor? What if I hadn't had access to a specialist to ask his opinion? Many, many readers of this paper, and those I meet in the course of my work, have told me similar stories of just how hard it is to obtain a proper assessment by a doctor for a relative or loved one with suspected dementia. Now we have the proof. According to figures released by the Department of Health last week, ahead of the first G8 Dementia Summit - an admirable British initiative as we take over the G8 presidency - there is a terrifying variation across the country. In some areas, as many as 75 per cent of dementia cases are diagnosed by a doctor; in the worst performing areas the number plummets to 39 per cent. Overall, out of an estimated 670,000 sufferers, only 319,000 have been formally diagnosed. The consequences of no diagnosis - or, as in my grandfather's case, a misdiagnosis - can be devastating for the patients and their families. It will also have a severe impact on their treatment and access to services. How have we got to a situation in which people with a suspected life-changing, complex medical condition are failing to get to see a doctor and having their condition ''diagnosed'' by people with no medical training? It really is, as The Daily Telegraph is demanding, time for Action on Dementia.

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In this newspaper last week, Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, suggested that some GPs are wary of diagnosing dementia because of the stigma. I disagree. In recent years, Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia have received considerable media coverage. There is increasing awareness of the condition - which an estimated one in three of us will develop - and sympathy for sufferers and their families. Publicity about "celebrity victims'' of dementia, such as Ronald Reagan, Glen Campbell, Iris Murdoch, Margaret Thatcher and Terry Pratchett, has contributed to this understanding. I don't think stigma is an issue and I don't think GPs are unduly worried about talking about dementia; they talk about all sorts of unpleasant things day in and day out. The crucial point is that dementia, its diagnosis, treatment and management, should be the work of specialist teams, not GPs or non-clinically trained staff. This is the fundamental problem. Dementia is of great interest to me and I've worked in this speciality on and off for the past nine years. But - and it saddens me to say it - having witnessed what has happened to care standards in recent years, I am reappraising my career choice. How can I continue to work in a system that is letting patients down so badly? Dementia services have always been a Cinderella service, but the role of doctors - the profession that was once the lynchpin of delivering what these patients need - has been eroded and undermined. Medical staff are an expensive resource and so, increasingly, the diagnosis and management of dementia has been pushed out to other professions within the NHS, often with no formal training in dementia. Patients who need medication may get to see a doctor, at least initially, before being passed on to a non-medical team member, an occupational therapist, a nurse, or a social worker. Other patients never see a clinician for assessment and diagnosis. In some trusts, the responsibility is handed over to a ''dementia worker'' - someone who may not have a degree or post-graduate training in health. In one service I worked in, our dementia worker, who was permitted to diagnose patients, was a former Boots cashier. Unbelievable, isn't it? But most politicians and NHS managers are ignorant of the fact that dementia is an umbrella term for a variety of conditions that affect memory and thinking. They include the commonest cause of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, but also other conditions, notably vitamin deficiencies and hormonal imbalances that affect memory but which are, in fact, reversible. It is, therefore, a highly skilled undertaking to diagnose someone accurately, taking into account their full medical and family history and medications. It requires detailed knowledge of neurology and neuroanatomy, pharmacology, physiology, biochemistry and psychology, as well as clinical experience and expertise. There is only one profession that is trained in all these areas - the medical profession. But about 10 years ago trusts began to adopt a framework known as ''new ways of working''. This placed emphasis on the multidisciplinary team and was ostensibly to promote a holistic attitude to health care. In principle, it was a worthy ideal. In reality, it has been used to cut costs, with more and more non-medically qualified people taking over the roles of clinicians. And no, this is not special pleading on my part. The simple truth is that by stripping dementia services of the medical emphasis, patients go undiagnosed, are misdiagnosed and mismanaged. The average dementia specialist will have done six years at medical school, a few years as a junior doctor and then at least six years of specialist training. How can anyone think this is comparable to allowing a social worker or nurse to diagnose someone? Imagine if cancer was diagnosed by a physiotherapist? Or a psychologist told you you had multiple sclerosis? There would be a national outcry.

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I believe that this has been allowed to happen because those with dementia are considered a lost cause; a group of usually elderly and frail people who aren't worth the investment needed for a medically focused service. How can one of the wealthiest nations in the world sanction this cruel betrayal of its neediest citizens? We should be ashamed. Alzheimer’s a late stage of diabetes' (Sophie Borland, The Daily Mail) ALZHEIMER'S and diabetes may be the same disease, scientists claim. They have uncovered evidence that the debilitating form of dementia may be late stages of type 2 diabetes. The discovery would explain why nearly three quarters of patients with this form of diabetes go on to develop Alzheimer's. Researchers from Albany University, New York State, believe the excess insulin they produce gets into the brain and disrupts key chemicals. Around 2.5million Britons suffer type 2 diabetes, which is triggered by obesity, and the numbers have almost doubled since the 1990s. Around 70 per cent of them go on to develop Alzheimer's compared with just 10 per cent of healthy men and 20 per cent of healthy women. Although doctors have known for some time that type 2 diabetes sufferers are far more at risk, there has been little research into the link. Professor Ewan McNay, a British researcher based at Albany University, said: 'The discovery could explain why people who develop type 2 diabetes often show sharp declines in cognitive function. 'People who develop diabetes have to realise this is about more than controlling their weight or diet. It's also the first step on the road to cognitive decline. At first they won't be able to keep up with their kids playing games, but in 30 years' time they may not even recognise them.' Professor McNay fed rats on a high-fat diet to bring on type 2 diabetes and carried out memory tests, which found that the animals' concentration deteriorated rapidly as the disease progressed. When he later examined their brains he found clumps of amyloid protein had formed - the same found in those of Alzheimer's patients. The researcher, who presented his findings at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, California, said: 'High levels of insulin swamp this enzyme so that it stops breaking down amyloid. 'The latter then accumulates until it forms toxic clumps that poison brain cells. It's the same amyloid build-up to blame in both diseases. Type 2 diabetics really do have low-level Alzheimer's.'

SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER Pratchett: PM broke dementia promise (Sarah-Kate Templeton, The Sunday Times) SIR TERRY PRATCHETT, the bestselling author who is suffering from dementia, has accused David Cameron of failing in his pledge to tackle the crisis caused by the disease.

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In an article for The Sunday Times the acclaimed author of the Discworld series, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007, says he fears the prime minister's promise to improve life for dementia patients and fund research into drugs to treat the condition may prove to be no more than a "podium promise for the press". "David Cameron made a solemn pledge one year ago," he writes. "In what I hoped wouldn't simply be a podium promise for the press, he announced intentions to double money spent on dementia research and to tackle the 'crisis' the condition is causing. "By 2015, £66m would be invested into research for the condition. It was progress, but the cynic in me knows this wasn't nearly enough." Pratchett, who supports the Alzheimer's Society which campaigns and cares for sufferers, adds: "Where is the change or hope for the people who wake up every morning feeling more confused, or less able to connect with their loved ones because they've got it [Alzheimer's]? "David Cameron namedropping the 'd' word did push the condition up the political agenda, but I couldn't see evidence of a revolution." About 800,000 people in the UK have dementia but there are only three clinical trials in progress around the world. By contrast, there are some 150 trials globally into various forms of cancer. In an interview Pratchett, 65, who takes a drug called Aricept to try to slow the progression of the disease, spoke of his hope that a G8 "dementia summit" in London later this month will reinvigorate the search for better treatments. Pratchett, who continues to write at the house in Salisbury, Wiltshire, that he shares with his wife Lyn, was highly critical of the authorities that fail adequately to punish carers found to have abused vulnerable dementia patients. Citing the case of Patricia Young, a carer in Northern Ireland who ate the meals of an Alzheimer's patient in front of her but was put on probation, Pratchett said: "Every time I see the news I hear that someone with Alzheimer's, in a home, has been mistreated. I would like to see things happen to people that did that — having these people hung up by their feet." He added: "It is okay for the government to say, 'We can do this and we can do that', but they are supposed to be doing all this and all of that anyway. It is all about people with clipboards ... It [abuse] has to be [dealt with as an offence] and it has to be done quickly and it has to be done properly and it has to be public." Pratchett, who was initially misdiagnosed, said GPs often failed to spot the signs of dementia and urged patients to push for a thorough assessment. His diagnosis allowed him to receive treatment and to meet others also suffering from posterior cortical atrophy, his form of Alzheimer's. While the author has said he would have an assisted suicide if he felt the time had come, he is concerned about those who are in a less privileged position. "Let it be said that I have the money and the people to make certain that I know when I am going to die," he said. "I think there is a spaceship somewhere round about Jupiter that is waiting for me. It's a little code."

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A spokeswoman for Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, said: "This government has made tackling dementia an unprecedented priority and the prime minister has personally led the charge with his Dementia Challenge [that was] launched last year. "We have made good progress domestically and are now leading the global fightback by bringing the G8 countries together to redouble international efforts to find effective treatments and cures." SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER Dementia in ethnic groups set for big rise (Tom Knowles, The Times) Dementia is forecast to rise sharply over the next ten years among Britain's black and Asian populations — groups that are likely to receive the least support because of the stigma attached to the disease within their communities. The number of black, Asian and minority ethnic people with the condition is predicted to grow to nearly 50,000 by 2026 and to more than 172,000 by 2051 — a seven-fold increase in 40 years, according to an all-party parliamentary report. The number of people with dementia in the wider population across Britain is only expected to double. The increase will reflect that the first wave of immigrants who came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s are now reaching their 70s and 80s. The condition is also more common among Asian and black Caribbean people because of diet and genetic factors. Blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart disease, which can cause dementia, are all more common among those groups. Shame attached to dementia among some ethnic groups means that sufferers are likely to face social isolation, will not have the disease diagnosed and will feel unable to ask for support. Kirit Nayee, a Hindu carer, told an allparty parliamentary group on dementia in July of the difficulties of taking care of his mother. "There are a lot of concerns within our religion and culture. Dementia: you know most people think it is not a disease, it is a thing people call 'bonkers'. So it has a stigma attached," Mr Nayee said. The all-party report added that Chinese service providers suggest that the Chinese have a "strong belief in retribution for bad behaviour". Among those who did seek help, there was thought to be a lack of cultural sensitivity about dementia services. Hannah Clack, from the Alzheimer's Society, said: "This is something we are particularly worried about ... We want to see the Government running particular programmes that are going to improve awareness in British Asian and minority ethnic communities of dementia." Yesterday the Government released a report mapping the extent of dementia across Britain. It showed huge variation — from 39 per cent diagnosis in some areas to 75 per cent in others. New dementia 'map' will help tackle care blackspots (The Daily Express) HUNDREDS of thousands of dementia sufferers across Britain are being failed by the NHS, a damning new report has revealed.

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Less than half of people living with dementia have a formal diagnosis, official figures show. The rate has improved only slightly - from 46 per cent to 48 per cent - over the last two years. And there are wide discrepancies across different areas, with the best rates of diagnosis almost twice that of the worst - 75 per cent versus 39 per cent. The significant gaps in care for dementia sufferers will be exposed on an interactive online map put out by the Government as part of a bid to improve the way they are treated by the health service. The map shows diagnosis rates, referral rates and the frequency of anti-psychotic drug prescription for the 670,000 people with dementia. It is part of a "state of the nation" report on the condition ahead of a G8 nations Dementia Summit in London next month, hosted by David Cameron. The World Health Organisation says the number of people living with dementia worldwide could more than treble to 115 million by 2050, due to the ageing population. The figure is expected to pass the million mark in the UK by the end of 2020. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. Full transparency is the best way to drive up standards and tackle poor performance." The report points to an almost doubling in Government-funded research, a four-fold increase in the number assessed by memory clinics, and training for 108,000 NHS staff in spotting early symptoms. But Alzheimer's Society director of external affairs, Alison Cook, is not impressed. She said: "In some areas of the country about three-quarters of people are getting a diagnosis. In other areas it's less than a third. It is really disgraceful. "This map is a step in the right direction, because naming those areas not doing very well and pointing in the direction of areas which are doing very well means that they can copy best practice." Dementia is stealing lives because of gaps in care, says Hunt (Laura Donnelly, The Daily Telegraph) ONE in four hospital patients is suffering dementia with many nurses unaware they have the condition, Jeremy Hunt has said as he warned that the disease is "stealing lives". A report published yesterday said thousands of people suffering from the condition must contend with "unacceptable" gaps in care, with almost half going undiagnosed. The Health Secretary said that too many elderly people were being left to suffer "incalculable heartbreak" amid failings to identify those with the condition, and to care properly for many of those who have been diagnosed. The State of the Nation report said one in four of those in NHS hospitals in England had dementia, with such patients likely to stay on wards longer and be more likely to be readmitted. In almost a quarter of cases where patients had previously been diagnosed with the condition, there was no record of it on medical notes. Half the hospitals in a recent audit had no system in place to ensure ward staff were aware that a person had dementia, according to the report.

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Mr Hunt said: "Dementia steals lives. Around 670,000 people in England have dementia and this number is set to double in the next 30 years. Dementia costs £19billion a year and this is going to increase massively. The cost in heartbreak is incalculable." Less than half of dementia sufferers are being formally diagnosed because doctors fear stigmatising their patients, the report found. A "dementia map" of England published yesterday showed that in some areas, fewer than four in every 10 dementia sufferers have their condition recognised by the NHS. The Department of Health estimates that 670,000 people in England are suffering from dementia. However, only 319,000 have been diagnosed, NHS figures show. Last week a report by the Care Quality Commission found that dementia sufferers were a third more likely to die in hospital than similar patients without the condition. "In the Sixties people were too scared to talk about cancer," Mr Hunt said. "In the Eighties the same happened with HIV/Aids. After a long and painful journey, we are now much more open about both and better able to tackle them. We now need to do the same with dementia." A disease without shame; ACTION ON DEMENTIA (The Daily Telegraph) Losing a loved one is one of life's most harrowing experiences. Yet there is a particular cruelty when it is not the body that fails, but the mind. Medicine, diet and exercise have advanced to the point where most of us remain hale and hearty into an ever–lengthening old age. Yet this increased lifespan has seen one in three people fall victim to dementia. This is an uncomfortable topic; families often try to shield it from sight, whether out of compassion, embarrassment or a peculiar species of shame. All credit, then, to Jeremy Hunt for dragging it into the light. In a powerful piece in this paper yesterday, the Health Secretary talked about trying to make it a "normal" disease, something people are not ashamed to seek help for. Shockingly, less than half of its victims are formally diagnosed by the NHS: Mr Hunt's new "dementia map" of England showed huge variations in the number who get treatment. The illness will not be conquered by government diktat; but by placing more information in the public domain, and putting the issue on the G8's agenda, ministers are doing their best to help its victims – and the millions more who love and support them. Welcome as Mr Hunt's intervention is, there is a long road ahead. MEDIA – WEB SOURCES THURSDAY 5TH DECEMBER Global dementia set to treble by 2050, says G8 briefing (Medical News Today) A new analysis suggests that the number of people worldwide living with dementia is set to treble by 2050. Alzheimer's Disease International, a federation of Alzheimer associations, reveals their findings in a policy briefing on the global impact of dementia ahead of the first G8 Dementia Summit set to take place in the UK on December 11th. One of the summit's goals is to agree a new international approach to dementia research and policy.

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The briefing reports a "staggering" 17% increase in the number of people living with dementia since the Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) estimate in the 2009 World Alzheimer Report. ADI estimates the global number of people living with dementia today is 44 million. The federation suggests this will climb to 76 million by 2030 and 135 million by 2050. Global dementia burden will shift from rich to poor countries The G8 briefing paper says the current and future burden of dementia has been underestimated, particularly in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It suggests there will soon be a shift in the distribution of dementia from richer to poorer countries. By 2050, over two-thirds (71%) of people with dementia will be living in low- and middle-income countries, says the ADI paper. At the forthcoming summit, ADI intends to emphasize the need for national dementia strategies that push for early diagnosis and interventions. The global group says there is an urgent need for a global action plan that brings together governments, industry and non-profit organizations to tackle the dementia epidemic. Care and support for dementia caregivers 'as important as research' They will also emphasize that while funding for dementia research is crucial, there is an equally important need for good quality care and support for caregivers, suggesting that priority also needs to be given to policymaking, development of health and social care services, and health systems. Other highlights from the ADI's G8 brief include:

The global cost of dementia is currently $604 billion a year (2010 estimate). At the very least, this will increase in line with numbers affected.

Improvements in public health could avert 10% of dementia cases - for example by targeting smoking, obesity, underactivity, high blood pressure and diabetes, and improving education.

Investing into search for a cure must be balanced by investment into finding and accessing the best evidence-based care.

The HIV epidemic has taught us many lessons about implementing global trials and how to balance research with developing care systems, diagnostic technologies and drug therapies in low- and middle-income countries.

Currently, only 13 out of 193 World Health Organization (WHO) countries have national dementia plans. WEDNESDAY 4TH DECEMBER Excess deaths rose by a third last winter (NursingTimes.net) A steep rise in the number of deaths last winter has been widely reported, with The Independent blaming the excess deaths on the “bitter conditions” and The Daily Telegraph reporting that “thousands of over-75-year-olds perished during the coldest winter for nearly 50 years”. The reports are based on figures compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which show there were an estimated 31,000 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2012-13. This is an increase of nearly one-third on the previous winter. Most deaths occurred in people aged 75 and over.

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The ONS report links the excess deaths to the bitterly cold weather between January and March 2013, pointing out that March 2013 was the coldest since 1962 with an average monthly temperature of just 2.6°C. Who produced the report? The report was produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), an independent body that collects data on the economy, population and society at a national and local level. One of the organisation’s responsibilities is to provide a yearly estimate of the additional number of people who die during the winter months, defined as December to March. The ONS report states that, in common with other countries, more people die in England and Wales in the winter than in the summer. These deaths are known as excess winter mortality (EWM) figures and are estimated by comparing deaths during this time period with preceding time periods (April to July and August to November). EWM figures are widely used to inform policy, planning and research in the public sector, in particular to measure the effectiveness of cold weather planning. In addition, charities use excess winter mortality statistics to support a variety of campaigns. The current bulletin presents provisional figures of excess winter deaths in England and Wales for the winter period 2012-13 and final figures for the winter period 2011-12. What data is the report based on? The ONS uses official data on all deaths recorded annually in England and Wales. It compares the number of deaths that occurred in the period from December to March with the average number of deaths that occurred in the preceding August to November and the following April to July. What are the key findings of the report? The report says that:

An estimated 31,100 excess winter deaths occurred in England and Wales in 2012-13, a 29% increase compared with the previous winter.

As in previous years, there were more excess winter deaths in females than in males in 2012-13.

Between 2011-12 and 2012-13, male excess winter deaths increased from 10,590 to 13,100, and female deaths increased from 13,610 to 18,000.

The majority of deaths occurred among those aged 75 and over. There were 25,600 excess winter deaths in this age group in 2012-13 compared with 5,500 in people under the age of 75.

The excess winter mortality index was highest in the north-west in 2012-13 and lowest in London. However, London had the highest level of excess winter mortality in 2011-12.

It reveals that the number of deaths peaked in the first week of January, and that the number of daily deaths was higher than average for a prolonged period between February and April 2013. The report also looks at trends in EWM over the last 60 years. It shows a decreasing trend in excess winter deaths continuing until 2005-06, after which there has been a gradual rise. What caused the excess winter deaths in 2012-13? As yet, no figures are available on the causes of excess deaths last winter, which was characterised by a milder than average December followed by a prolonged period of lower than average temperatures.

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However, it is widely acknowledged that the majority of excess winter deaths are caused by:

diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as stroke and heart attack

respiratory diseases, in particular the flu The report points out that the cold has various physiological effects on the body that may lead to death in vulnerable people. For example, previous research associated a colder home temperature with increased blood pressure. Another study found that cold causes the blood to become thicker, which could lead to blood clots (thrombosis). The cold also lowers immune resistance to respiratory infections. The ONS report states that influenza levels increase in winter. For vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing health problems, flu can lead to life-threatening complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia. The strains of influenza viruses were more severe in 2012-13 compared with 2011-12, leading to a greater number of hospitalisations and intensive care admissions than the previous winter. There were also increases in winter deaths from dementia overall, and specifically Alzheimer’s, as well as deaths from accidental falls and injuries linked to wintry conditions. Falls are a common but often overlooked cause of injury in older people. Although excess winter deaths are related to low temperatures, hypothermia – a dangerous condition in which the body’s core temperature falls to dangerously low levels – is not the main cause of excess winter mortality. How do we compare with other countries? The report states that countries with regularly low winter temperatures, such as Finland and Germany, have very low rates of EWM. Conversely, countries with very mild winter temperatures, such as Portugal and Spain, have very high rates of EWM. England and Wales both have higher than average EWM and high variations in seasonal mortality. There are many reasons why countries with milder winter climates have such a high level of winter mortality. For example, people who live in countries with generally warmer winters tend to take fewer precautions against the cold, such as wearing warm protective clothing. Countries with milder winters also tend to have homes with poorer thermal efficiency – for example, fewer homes have cavity wall insulation and double glazing – which makes it harder to keep homes warm during the winter. It has been shown that a low indoor temperature is associated with higher EWM from cardiovascular disease in England. How accurate is the media’s reporting of the study? The media reporting of the statistics provided by the ONS was accurate. Commentators across the political spectrum have suggested that there is a link between fuel poverty (the inability to keep a home warm at an adequate level because of a low income) and excess deaths. This potential association was not examined in the ONS report. Conclusion If you are 65 or over, it is important to spend most of your time in a warm environment during the winter months. There are a number of things you can do to cope in cold weather. Keep your main living room at around 18-21°C (65-70°F) and the rest of the house at least 16°C (61°F). If you can’t heat all the rooms you use, heat the living room during the day and the bedroom just before you go to sleep.

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Make sure you are receiving any benefits you are entitled to, such as the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment. Regular hot drinks and eating at least one hot meal a day will help keep energy levels up during winter and keep your body warm. Finally, make sure you get the seasonal flu jab. While not 100% guaranteed, it should reduce your vulnerability to infection. For more advice and information, visit the NHS Choices Winter Health bundle. Link to view online here TUESDAY 3RD DECEMBER £5.6 billion worth of deals signed in China (UK Gov Press Release) Trade and investment deals totalling over £5.6 billion and creating over 1,500 UK jobs have been signed between UK and Chinese firms during the largest ever trade mission led by a Prime Minister to China. More than 120 British companies, including around 60 small and medium-sized UK firms, have made the trip to China, which aims to take the economic relationship between the 2 countries to a new level. Headline announcements include Jaguar Land Rover’s new £4.5 billion export deal; Surrey Satellite Technology’s contract with Chinese partners Space Star Technology Company for a new satellite constellation worth £100 million and Chang’An Automobile Co. Ltd which will invest £60 million and create 300 jobs at a new European Research & Development Centre in the West Midlands. Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Linking Britain to fast-growing markets like China is a vital part of the government’s plan to provide sustainable growth and compete in the global race. Today’s announcements show the huge potential to increase business with China. We are determined to do all we can to throw open the door for British companies to benefit from China’s vast and varied markets, showcasing British business, particularly small enterprises, in China and highlighting investment opportunities.” Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Increasing trade with China and other fast growing markets will help us to build a stronger economy. Our Industrial Strategy is providing the confidence for continued investment in key sectors of the UK economy. It is particularly encouraging to see increasing business today for the success story that is the UK automotive industry from companies like Jaguar Land Rover, Chang’An Automobile Co, Geely Automotive and McLaren. All are helping to create more private sector jobs outside of London.” Trade Minister designate Lord Livingston said:

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“More and more UK companies are selling their products and services to China with exports almost doubling since 2009 - reaching more than £1 billion per month. The UK is 1 of the most open countries to Chinese investment and was the most popular European destination for Chinese investment last year. The raft of deals shows that the UK and China truly are partners for growth - China’s growing appetite for British expertise proves that the UK is 1 of the most attractive inward investment destinations in the world. UK Trade & Investment stands ready to support companies of all sizes that want to take their first steps into this rapidly-expanding market and is actively showcasing all that the UK has to offer to Chinese companies looking for business opportunities overseas.” Some of the other major deals signed today include:

Rolls-Royce has won an additional £17 million contract to supply China’s energy infrastructure. The UK-based global power systems company will supply PetroChina with equipment and services to expand the flow of natural gas through the Lunnan-Tulufan branch of the second West to East Pipeline Project

McLaren announced that in only 3 months of trading in China, they had exported 108 high-technology 12C sports cars and have taken more than 30 orders for the ground-breaking McLaren P1 – with a total export value of £45 million. McLaren anticipate that in future China may account for 10% of total McLaren sales – with an export value of over £50 million per year

Geely reaffirmed its commitment to invest into the London taxi project to bring a new green TX5 taxi model into production over the next 5 years by increasing its investment figure from £150 million to £180 million. Geely has confirmed that £80 million of this will go into the UK, including £30 million for a new manufacturing facility and approximately £50 million for research and development on the next generation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles. As a result of ongoing increased production Geely hopes to increase its workforce at regional sites in the UK Half of the businesses attending are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Among them is Manchester-based Sweet Mandarin, an award-winning Chinese restaurant and small British manufacturer of gluten free, nut free, dairy free sauces. The company signed a deal worth up to £6 million to sell Chinese sauces into the Chinese market, creating up to 15 new UK jobs. Wiltshire-based SME Moulton Bicycles announced that its Chinese distributor has made an order, with a value of £500,000, for a special model of Moulton bicycle that will only go on sale in China. Karren Brady, Vice Chairman of West Ham United, who formed part of the delegation, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be part of this trade mission and have already seen the tangible benefits that such a trip can provide, especially to SMEs. SMEs are the engines of the economy and I’m so pleased that the Prime Minister has delivered for them during this ground-breaking trip.” SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER Misfolded proteins are capable of forming tree-like aggregates in Alzheimer's disease (Medical News Today) A method by Rice University researchers to model the way proteins fold - and sometimes misfold - has revealed branching behavior that may have implications for Alzheimer's and other aggregation diseases. Results from the research appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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In an earlier study of the muscle protein titin, Rice chemist Peter Wolynes and his colleagues analyzed the likelihood of misfolding in proteins, in which domains - discrete sections of a protein with independent folding characteristics - become entangled with like sequences on nearby chains. They found the resulting molecular complexes called "dimers" were often unable to perform their functions and could become part of amyloid fibers. This time, Wolynes and his co-authors, Rice postdoctoral researcher Weihua Zheng and graduate student Nicholas Schafer, modeled constructs containing two, three or four identical titin domains. They discovered that rather than creating the linear connections others had studied in detail, these proteins aggregated by branching; the proteins created structures that cross-linked with neighboring proteins and formed gel-like networks that resemble those that imbue spider silk with its remarkable flexibility and strength. "We're asking with this investigation, What happens after that first sticky contact forms?" Wolynes said. "What happens if we add more sticky molecules? Does it continue to build up further structure out of that first contact? "It turned out this protein we've been investigating has two amyloidogenic segments that allow for branch structures. That was a surprise," he said. The researchers used their AWSEM (Associative memory, Water-mediated Structure and Energy Model) program to analyze how computer models of muscle proteins interact with each other, particularly in various temperatures that determine when a protein is likely to fold or unfold. The program relies on Wolynes' groundbreaking principle of minimal frustration to determine how the energy associated with amino acids, bead-like elements in a monomer chain, determines their interactions with their neighbors as the chain folds into a useful protein. Proteins usually fold and unfold many times as they carry out their tasks, and each cycle is an opportunity for it to misfold. When that happens, the body generally destroys and discards the useless protein. But when that process fails, misfolded proteins can form the gummy amyloid plaques often found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The titin proteins the Rice team chose to study are not implicated in disease but have been well-characterized by experimentalists; this gives the researchers a solid basis for comparison. "In the real muscle protein, each domain is identical in structure but different in sequence to avoid this misfolding phenomenon," Wolynes said. So experimentalists studying two-domain constructs made the domains identical in every way to look for the misfolding behavior that was confirmed by Rice's earlier calculations. That prompted Wolynes and his team to create additional protein models with three and four identical domains. "The experiments yield coarse-grained information and don't directly reveal detail at the molecular level," Schafer said. "So we design simulations that allow us to propose candidate misfolded structures. This is an example of how molecular models can be useful for investigating the very early stages of aggregation that are hard to see in experiments, and might be the stages that are the most medically relevant." "We want to get the message across that this is a possible scenario for misfolding or aggregation cases - that this branching does exist," Zheng added. "We want experimentalists to know this is something they should be looking for." Wolynes said the lab's next task is to model proteins that are associated with specific diseases to see what might be happening at the start of aggregation. "We have to investigate a wider variety of structures," he said. "We have no new evidence these branching structures are pathogenic, but they're clearly an example of something that happens that has been ignored until now.

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"I think this opens up new possibilities in what kind of structures we should be looking at," he said. Link to view online here POLITICAL MONITORING G8 Dementia Summit: Prime Minister's speech (11/12/13) The Prime Minister spoke at the G8 Dementia Summit today about the global challenge of dementia, and the role life sciences play in the UK. The Rt Hon David Cameron MP: I’m delighted to welcome you all to the first-ever G8 Dementia Summit. Today is about 3 things: realism, determination, and hope. Realism – because no-one here is in any doubt about the scale of the dementia crisis. A new case every 4 seconds; a global cost of $600 billion dollars a year. And this is to say nothing of the human cost. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in London or Los Angeles, in rural India or urban Japan - this disease steals lives; it wrecks families; it breaks hearts and that is why all of us here are so utterly determined to beat it. Determination to work together We meet with determination too. In generations past, the world came together to take on the great killers. We stood against malaria, cancer, HIV and AIDS and we are just as resolute today. I want December 11 2013 to go down as the day that the global fight-back began. Not just on finding a cure for dementia but preventing it, delaying it, and critically – helping those who live with dementia to live well, and live with dignity. We’ve got some really ambitious objectives for today - to increase funding, to share data – but frankly we have got to be ambitious if we want to beat this. We’ve got to turn that determination into something real. Hope for the future And we meet here with hope. The debate on dementia can get pretty defeatist.

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Of course – the challenge is huge. And yes – we’re a long way from a cure. But there is hope. I see it in the extraordinary work of UK life sciences companies, like Ixico, Cambridge Cognition, Psychology Online and Proteome Sciences, working with others to develop new tests for Alzheimer’s Disease. I see hope in the US setting new standards for clinical collaboration in Japan – breaking new ground in molecular imaging. And I see hope in this room – some of the most respected scientists, thinkers and politicians from around the world, coming together to beat this. We meet in the country where Watson and Crick unraveled DNA… where genetic fingerprinting, the MRI scan and the beta blocker were invented. We meet with the conviction that human ingenuity can overcome the most daunting of challenges. We meet with the determination that we will take the fight to dementia – and help improve or save millions of lives. Life sciences And in that fight, I want the UK – and UK life sciences – to play a leading role. We’ve got great strengths – 4 of the world’s top 10 universities, fantastic companies and a National Health Service like no other. 2 years ago we set out a life sciences strategy to capitalise on all this. We’ve been getting more NHS patients into early stage trials, protecting the science budget and making it much more attractive to invest in research and development (R&D). We are throwing everything we have at making the UK the place to invest and locate and work in life sciences. And I can tell you today, this strategy is reaping serious rewards. In the past 2 years we’ve had £1.8 billion of investment into this country announced. And I am thrilled to announce 3 further pieces of good news. The first is that the Medical Research Council will be spending £150 million more on clinical infrastructure for dementia and genomics - that is in addition to our G8 commitments. The second piece of good news: the Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB have saved £3 million thanks to our new R&D tax credit and they have decided to reinvest that saving back into their centre in Slough. The third and final piece of good news: GlaxoSmithKline will be investing a further £200 million in UK life sciences that is on top of the £500 million they invested last year - another huge boost to British innovation.

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All this is a resounding endorsement of UK life sciences and it’s a vital part of our long-term plan to re balance the British economy to create more decent, skilled jobs for our people. We want life sciences to be the jewel in the crown of that economy – and we’re on our way. But my big message to you here is that what’s good news for the UK economy is also great news in the fight against dementia. So much of what we’re doing here in the UK in life science is increasingly important to dementia research. Huge cohort studies. Mass patient participation. Personalised medicine. Take just one initiative – Bio Bank. More than half a million people have volunteered to take part in this providing blood samples, getting their vital signs checked, so we can see how diseases like dementia get signalled. The plan is to use Bio Bank to take brain scans of up to 100,000 people – allowing us to see the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s and other diseases. That is the kind of ambition we’re seeing here in the UK ambition that should give hope to people right around the world. So we meet with realism about what we face but with the determination to fight this and the real hope that one day that fight will be won. I just want to end by thanking everyone here for the vital work you do and for joining us in London today. Link to view online here Introduction to the Dementia Summit (Jeremyt Hunt, 11/12/13) Ladies and gentlemen, It is fantastic to see you all here today for the world’s first G8 Dementia Summit. And it is right we should be here. As life expectancy goes up, our generation has a unique challenge: will those extra years at the end of our lives be ones we can look forward to with anticipation - or will they be ones we end up dreading? One in three of us will get dementia. And if we don’t do better, for one in three those later years could be years of agony, heartbreak and despair - not just for those of us with the condition, but for our families, friends and loved ones too. 9 years ago Britain hosted the G8 in Gleneagles in Scotland. And we faced up to a different health challenge - HIV/AIDS. We did a brave and wonderful thing, declaring that anti-retroviral drugs should become available to all who needed them. Thanks to that, we have turned the global tide in the battle against AIDS. Now we need to do it again.

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We will bankrupt our healthcare systems if we don’t. Here in the UK the cost of dementia is £23 billion and globally it is approaching $600 billion. One in four people in UK hospitals have dementia, but the costs extend well beyond hospital care into social care, community care and the opportunity costs for carers. But the real reason to do something about dementia is not financial. The real reason is human. Everyone deserves to live their final years with dignity, respect and the support of loved-ones. That was the dream of universal healthcare coverage when we founded the NHS in the UK 65 years ago. Now with an ageing population we need to reinvent the model. So let us focus on three areas of action for this summit. Firstly to redouble our efforts to find a drug that can halt or reverse the brain decay caused by dementia. We thought we could never combat HIV. But just 9 years after the Gleneagles summit and with the involvement of some of Britain’s best universities, we are talking about a potential vaccine. We need that spirit of scientific endeavour for dementia and Alzheimer’s as well - and there is some fantastic work going on in our universities and research laboratories. Secondly we need to improve diagnosis rates. In this country, despite our brilliant NHS, less than half of dementia patients get a diagnosis. Too many people - even some doctors - think there is no point. But with a diagnosis we can give out medicines that help some people; we can put in place support for families; we can encourage lifestyle change - all of which can mean people live at home happily and healthily for many years longer. Thirdly let’s fight the stigma around dementia in society. When I was born in the 1960s, people didn’t like talking about cancer. The first step to improving treatment was to make it normal - we need to do that for dementia. So following the inspiring programme in Japan, we are trying to recruit one million dementia friends in England - people who know the basics and can be ambassadors for fighting stigma. Right here we have the A team. Health ministers, science ministers, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, voluntary organisations, the OECD and the WHO. And we have some even more special guests: people who themselves have dementia and have had the courage to come today. Let us recognise them. Let us today match their courage by daring to aim big. By showing future generations we were up to this challenge, ready to do what it takes to harness science, research and humanity to turn one of humanity’s greatest threats into one of its greatest achievements. Thank you. Link to view online here UK calls on world to tackle global crisis of dementia (Department of Health, 11/12/13) Dementia will no longer be an accepted side effect of growing old. At the first G8 summit on a specific illness since HIV, called by the UK as part of its G8 presidency, health and science leaders have today agreed a package of measures to tackle the growing global health, social and economic crisis of dementia. Currently 36 million people across the world have dementia and the World Health Organisation predicts that numbers will nearly double every two decades. Speaking at the Summit, Prime Minister David Cameron said:

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It doesn’t matter whether you’re in London or Los Angeles, in rural India or urban Japan – dementia steals lives, it wrecks families, it breaks hearts and that is why all of us here are so utterly determined to beat it. In generations past, the world came together to take on the great killers. We stood against malaria, cancer, HIV and AIDS and we are just as resolute today. I want December 11th 2013 to go down as the day that the global fight-back began. As a result of the first ever G8 summit on dementia, the countries have agreed to:

set an ambition to identify a cure or a disease-modifying therapy for dementia by 2025 – backed by a commitment to together significantly increase the amount spent on dementia research and increase the number of people involved in clinical trials and studies on dementia;

a new Global Envoy for Dementia Innovation, following in the footsteps of global envoys on HIV and Aids and on Climate Change – the Global Envoy will bring together international expertise to stimulate innovation and co-ordinate international efforts to attract new sources of finance, including exploring the possibility of a new private and philanthropic fund to support global dementia innovation;

develop an international action plan for research – in particular to identify current gaps and how to fill them; share information and data from dementia research studies across the G8 countries to work together and get the

best return on investment in research; and encourage open access to all publicly-funded dementia research to make data and results available for further

research as quickly as possible. Greater investment in research, focussing research where there is more to learn and greater sharing of data will mean everyone understands more and can move towards better treatment and cures – in the same way that medicine has made great strides in tackling diseases like HIV and cancer. Simply increasing spending on dementia research will not be enough – that is why there will be an action plan on how the G8 countries will work together to fill the gaps and opportunities in dementia research with the ultimate aim of finding a cure or disease-modifying treatment by 2025. The G8 is also supporting the UK in appointing a Global Dementia Innovation Envoy - the Global Envoy will ensure the international focus continues, driving innovation in care and treatments for people with dementia. In his closing address to the summit, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will say: Nelson Mandela once said that ‘it always seems impossible until it’s done’. 20 years ago, fear, ignorance and stigma surrounded HIV and AIDS – but we know from this that major diseases can be made manageable, even preventable, with sufficient political will. Dementia costs an astounding US$604 billion every year, about one per cent of the world’s GDP. But this isn’t just an economic problem – the impact this disease has, not just on those diagnosed with dementia, but also on their families, their carers and their friends, cannot be measured. Already, great strides are being made in understanding this disease and how we might prevent it. Today we have taken a major step forward in agreeing action to tackle this debilitating disease on a global scale – to push further, to be able to provide treatments and cures so that future generations can face a diagnosis of dementia with confidence, not fear. Let’s show future generations we were up to the challenge. Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General said: WHO warmly welcomes the aims and outcomes of this summit, with its ground-breaking proposals to stimulate research and development to catch up with a runaway human tragedy.

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WHO’s priority will be to help countries, especially in the developing world, cope with their rapidly ageing populations and escalating numbers of people with dementia. Yves Leterme, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, said: We need to modernize the innovation model in health in order to accelerate innovation in dementia prevention and care. The OECD supports the UK government efforts to encourage multi-stakeholders international collaboration to address dementia and welcomes the UK decision to appoint a Global Dementia Innovation Envoy. We hope that through our combined efforts we will be able to better deal with the human, social and economic cost of dementia. Next year, these countries will come together again throughout 2014 to build on the commitments agreed today. In March, the UK will hold an event on how to get greater investment and finance in innovative care. This will be followed by an event in Japan on what new care and prevention models could look like and an event hosted by Canada and France on industry partnerships between academia and industry. The G8 countries will then meet in the United States in February 2015 with other global experts, including WHO and OECD, to review the progress that has been made on this research agenda. Link to view online here

PARLIAMENTARY MONITORING House of Commons – Prime Minister’s Questions – 11/12/13 Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam) (LD): Dementia is the disease most feared by the over-50s in this country. The Government are rightly doubling investment in dementia research during this Parliament, and the Prime Minister is hosting the G8 summit on dementia this week. Will he now lift the country’s and the Government’s sights by committing to doubling again this country’s investment in dementia research? The Prime Minister: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that question. He is absolutely right to say that this is a real challenge facing not only this country, where there are 670,000 people suffering from dementia, but the whole world. We are having the G8 conference today in London to share intelligence, expertise and scientific research and learn lessons from each other. And yes, I can confirm that this Government are already planning to double research into dementia up to 2015, and we plan to double it again thereafter. Link to view online here House of Lords – Written Ministerial Statement – 11/12/13 My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Jeremy Hunt) has made the following written ministerial statement. A Health Ministers Summit of the Group of Eight was held in London today. The summit identified and agreed a new international approach to dementia research, to help break down barriers within and between companies, researchers and clinicians and secure a new level of cooperation needed to reach shared goals faster than nations acting alone. The following items were on the agenda for discussion: Pre-summit briefing on the UK Prime Ministers Dementia Challenge The UK presented to the meeting on the UK Prime Minister’s dementia challenge which includes dementia friendly communities, health and care and research.

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Ministers’ and European Commission’s Prepared Statements Statements were be made by Canada, France, Germany and Italy. These were followed by statements from Japan, Russia, UK, United States and the EU. Improving Life and Care for People Affected by Dementia and their Carers The meeting held an exchange of views on the action that can be taken to provide better and more concrete measures for improving services and support for people with dementia and their carers. Preventing and Delaying Dementia The meeting held an exchange of views on the action that can be taken to stimulate greater investment and innovation in dementia prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. Social Adaptation to Global Ageing and Dementia The meeting held an exchange of views on the action necessary to adapt to ageing society and to reduce the impact of dementia. As part of the agreement reached, countries have agreed to: - set an ambition to identify a cure or a disease- modifying therapy for dementia by 2025—backed by a commitment to together significantly increase the amount spent on dementia research and increase the number of people involved in clinical trials and studies on dementia;- a new Global Envoy for Dementia Innovation, following in the footsteps of global envoys on HIV and Aids and on Climate Change—the Global Envoy will bring together international expertise to stimulate innovation and co-ordinate international efforts to attract new sources of finance, including exploring the possibility of a new private and philanthropic fund to support global dementia innovation;- develop an international action plan for research—in particular to identify current gaps and how to fill them;- share information and data from dementia research studies across the G8 countries to work together and get the best return on investment in research; and- encourage open access to all publicly-funded dementia research to make data and results available for further research as quickly as possible A copy of the declaration and communique has been placed in the Library. Copies are available to hon Members from the Vote Office and to noble Lords from the Printed Paper Office. Link to view online here House of Commons - Written Questions – 9/12/13 Andrew Smith (Oxford East, Labour): To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will have discussions with research councils and other appropriate research bodies on providing specific funding for (a) the study of risk factors in Alzheimer's disease and (b) clinical trials to assess the role of managing those risks in preventing that disease; (2) what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of increasing expenditure on research into the risk factors associated with dementia and their prevention. Daniel Poulter (The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health; Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Conservative): In March 2012, the Prime Minister's challenge on dementia announced that the combined value of

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the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Medical Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council funding for research into dementia will increase from £26.6 million in 2009-10 to an estimated £66.3 million in 2014-15. Combined spend on dementia research by these funders reached £52.2 million in 2012-13. In partnership with medical research charities, these funders invest in a wide range of research relating to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, including research on risk factors, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. Together with work in the two other key areas of the Prime Minister's challenge, the investment in research will help to both improve quality of life and quality of care, and reduce future pressures on the national health service and social care. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including risk factors for dementia and interventions to mitigate such risk factors. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the NHS, value for money and scientific quality. Link to view online here House of Commons - Written Questions – 9/12/13 Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth, Conservative): To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been allocated to health professionals in Cornwall from the NHS Innovation Challenge Prize for Dementia fund. Norman Lamb (The Minister of State, Department of Health; North Norfolk, Liberal Democrat): The Plymouth Care Coordination Team were highly commended for their entry in the NHS Innovation Challenge Prize for Dementia, but received no monetary award. Link to view online here House of Commons – Business of the House – 5/12/13 Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley, Conservative): Some 44 million people worldwide suffer with Alzheimer’s disease and it is estimated that the number will treble by 2050. May we have a debate on dementia to see what more we can do to help carers, those who have a loved one suffering with Alzheimer’s, and research and development in order to give hope to people suffering with Alzheimer’s? Andrew Lansley (The Leader of the House of Commons ; South Cambridgeshire, Conservative): Members across the House will share with my hon. Friend a sense of the importance that we attach to making further progress in the research into the causes of dementia and its treatment, and the way in which we as a society respond to those with dementia. I was very pleased that the Backbench Business Committee was able to schedule a debate before the G8 summit next Wednesday. I hope that with the progress we are making in research on dementia and its treatment, there may be further opportunities in the new year. Link to view online here SOCIAL MEDIA

Alzheimer’s Society – 9/12/13

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There are stark differences in the progress of cancer and dementia research – watch Derek and Yvonne’s story http://bit.ly/18gm2FW Pls RT

David Cameron – 11/12/13

RT if you support our plans to help loved-ones with #dementia. pic.twitter.com/E7tmgxYoKJ

Channel 4 News – 11/12/13 Is a cure for dementia within our grasp? David Cameron thinks so and by 2025, as @vsmacdonald reports - watch http://bit.ly/1kAx2hA #c4news

Alzheimer’s Society – 11/12/13 'Today the UK has demonstrated global leadership on tackling dementia' - #G8dementia http://ow.ly/rFNUd pic.twitter.com/eBbCyTisgP

Jeremy Hunt – 11/12/13 The UK is leading the way in the global fightback against dementia. Watch the #G8Dementia live at http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk