Which specific areas of dementia research remain the most challenging?

Dementia research is an extremely complex and multidisciplinary field that faces diverse challenges, including:

- Developing and implementing minimally intrusive early detection and diagnosis methods, such as new blood tests, that can identify people at risk of dementia and promote more timely access to treatments¹⁴.

- Increasing the participation of people living with dementia in relevant clinical studies and trials, especially from diverse and underrepresented groups,¹²⁵.

- Supporting, encouraging and retaining early career researchers who are vital for advancing the knowledge and innovation in dementia research¹⁴.

- Addressing the ethical and practical issues that arise when conducting research with people who have cognitive impairments, including informed consent, safeguarding, and data protection⁵.

- Finding effective disease-modifying treatments that can stop or slow the progression of dementia, which has been hampered by a persistent and conspicuous lack of success in clinical trials and an associated decline in interest from pharmaceutical research companies³⁴.

These challenges require coordinated action from governments, funders, researchers, clinicians, and people affected by dementia to ensure that dementia research is adequately supported, prioritised, and translated into practice..

Source:

(1) https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/policy-and-influencing/our-position-key-dementia-challenges/dementia-research.

(2) https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/opportunities-in-dementia-research/73588/.

(3) https://ukdri.ac.uk/uploads/UK-DRI_Dementia_Health_Inequalities_Report_2022.pdf.

(4) https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/46/4/678/2926037.

(5) https://www.who.int/news/item/02-09-2021-world-failing-to-address-dementia-challenge.

(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia.