Why do so many clinical trials for possible therapies for Alzheimer?s disease
fail? 
   Lead Investigator:    Roy Anderson
   Institution      :    Imperial College London
   E-Mail           :    roy.anderson@imperial.ac.uk
   Proposal ID      :    927


   Publications:


1  Anderson RM, Hadjichrysanthou C, Evans S, Wong MM
   Why do so many clinical trials of therapies for Alzheimer's disease fail?
   Journal Article  Lancet,390:2327-2329,2017,

   PUBLISHED





   Proposal Description:
   The World Health Organization (WHO) unanimously adopted a global plan on dementia at the 70th session in 2017 of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. The plan includes targets for the advancement of dementia awareness, risk reduction, diagnosis, care and treatment, support for care partners and research. To date only 29 governments out of the 194 WHO member states have developed a plan on dementia. It is estimated that by 2030 there will be 74.7 million people with dementia, and the cost of caring for these individuals could rise to some $2 trillion. In the absence of effective therapies, the number of people with dementia is estimated to reach 131.5 million by 2050. 1  Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest task. It is the most common cause of dementia and accounts for 50-75 of all cases.2 The disease is characterised by the presence of amyloid plaques (amyloid #946) and neurofibrillary (tau) tangles, plus the loss of connections between neurons in the brain. It is believed that the damage to the brain induced by abnormal deposits of amyloid plaques and tau tangles starts a decade or more before a decline in cognitive function is apparent.