In Pursuit of a Cure

Over the last decade, great progress has been made in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias research. There is no doubt that major breakthroughs are on the horizon.

The Alzheimer Society of Canada is a leading funder of dementia research and research training in Canada, contributing close to $30 million in the past 20 years. In 2009, the Society and its partners funded over $2.4 million in support of both Biomedical and Quality of Life research fields.

The fact remains that at present there is no cure for dementia. More funding must be given in support of Canada's researchers, who rank among the top dementia scientists in the world.

• What Is Dementia?
• Risk Factors
• Biomedical research
• Quality of Life Research
• Knowledge Translation & Exchange

What is Dementia?

Dementia refers to a large class of disorders characterized by the progressive deterioration of thinking, ability and memory. Symptoms commonly include loss of short and long-term memory, judgment and reasoning, and also changes in mood, behaviour and the ability to communicate. These symptoms may affect a person's ability to function at work, in social relationships, or carry on with their usual activities of daily living. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia, representing about 64 per cent of all cases.

Risk Factors

Dementia appears to be caused when the combined effects of many risk factors, including age, genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors, overwhelm the natural self-repair and self-healing mechanisms in the brain. To this end, an increasing amount of research is focusing on learning more about these risk factors for dementia, on what people can do to reduce them, and also on ways to enhance the brain's self-healing capacity.

Biomedical research

Biological Markers

It has long been hoped that biological 'markers' for Alzheimer's disease would appear in various tissues that could be more easily studied than the brain itself. New findings are offering hope that early diagnosis could be considerably assisted by such biological markers. Recent reports described two such markers in the skin of people with Alzheimer's disease: firstly, an abnormal inflammatory chemical response that is easy to detect; and secondly, the presence of abnormal levels of a number of proteins. Other markers which are already being used in some
clinics are changes in the levels of certain substances in the
cerebrospinal fluid (the CSF).

Alzheimer Vaccine

There are promising developments in the search for an Alzheimer vaccine. The first attempt, which showed positive results with mouse models of the disease, was halted early in the first phase of human trials in 2002 due to the development of brain inflammation in some participants. New vaccines anticipated not to cause inflammation of the brain are very actively being designed, and at least three are in early clinical trials.

In one new approach, instead of giving substances which will stimulate the production of antibodies (active immunization), already manufactured antibodies are provided directly (passive immunization). The antibodies recognize and help eliminate the toxic A-beta protein which eventually forms the "plaques", a major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The plaques are scattered throughout the brain outside the nerve cells, but even before they appear, the A-beta protein molecules have already begin to aggregate. It is at that early stage of aggregation that the toxic actions of A-beta are exerted, leading to the sickness and eventually the death of the brain's nerve cells.

Alzheimer's Disease and Diabetes

Research shows that, even when a person does not have a diagnosis of diabetes, anti-diabetic drugs called glitazones can help maintain brain function in people with Alzheimer's disease. The continued testing of these drugs is based on the evidence that, in people with Alzheimer's disease, there may actually be a sort of diabetes of the brain. This idea is supported by the observation that when insulin was administered during an experimental study through the nasal passage of people with Alzheimer's disease (this approach gets the insulin preferentially to the brain without going through the rest of the body), memory and cognition improved in some cases – a promise of future therapeutic measures.

Promoting Brain Repair

Even when a truly successful treatment for Alzheimer's disease is discovered, there will still be a need to repair the damage that Alzheimer's disease has already caused in the brain. Of great importance, there is a class of substances called 'growth factors' which promote the health of nerve cells and their ability to grow new connections with other nerve cells. One critically important growth factor is called the Nerve Growth Factor, or NGF. Studies, which are testing NGF's potential value to people with Alzheimer's disease, are showing initial promise both at keeping nerve cells from dying and for improving cognition.

For a more in-depth look at current bio-medical research in Alzheimer's disease, please download A Report on Alzheimer's Disease and Current Research.

Quality of Life Research

Quality of Life research is aimed at understanding and addressing the physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual needs of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and of their caregivers. In other words, quality of life researchers focus on helping people who are experiencing Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, or are providing the daily needs of the affected people, as opposed to bio-medical research which seeks the causes and better treatments of the disease, and means of prevention.

Currently funded Quality of Life research is focused on how to enhance memory, language and daily living activities for people with dementia, the impact of the disease on family caregivers, how to meet the needs of people with dementia living in the community, ways to improve support of people with dementia in care facilities, and how, as communities, we can support people with dementia.

Knowledge Translation & Exchange

In dementia research today, there can be a gap between what research shows is effective, and current care practices. While there are many researchers and clinicians whose work makes significant impacts related to dementia care, they often operate in isolation from one another.

Knowledge translation is the adaptation of research findings into effective treatments, services, and products. Knowledge exchange is collaborative information sharing and problem-solving between researchers, caregivers, and policy makers – or in other words, it is the process of connecting and linking people, ideas, and resources.

Recognizing the importance of this, the Alzheimer Society is placing an increased emphasis on knowledge translation and exchange. For example, as part of its Research Program, all grant recipients must now address the anticipated dissemination of their findings, and how this could impact other research into improving the quality of life of people living with dementia and their caregivers. The Alzheimer Society also has a partnership with the Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network (CDKTN) to support training opportunities in knowledge translation for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows who are already engaged in, or intend to become engaged in, dementia research.

For more information, or to donate to the Alzheimer Research Society Program, please visit www.alzheimer.ca or call 1-800- 616-8816.

This page last reviewed/revised January 2010.
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