Exclusive: Treatments near approval but lack of diagnostic capacity means NHS unprepared for rollout, report says What are the symptoms of dementia and how do you get a diagnosis? Hundreds of thousands of dementia patients in England face being denied access to revolutionary new drugs because the diagnostic capacity of the NHS lags behind every other G7 country, according to a damning report. After decades of research to find a cure for the condition projected to affect 153 million people worldwide by 2050, scientists have successfully developed the first treatments to tackle the underlying ..read more

Some symptoms could be a sign of other conditions so it is important to see a GP if you have concerns Hundreds of thousands face being denied new dementia drugs in England The number of adults living with dementia worldwide is projected to reach 153 million by 2050. With so many of us likely to be affected directly or indirectly, it is vital everyone can spot the signs and are aware of how to get diagnosed ..read more

More than 50 clinics will offer tests to about 5,000 people who are worried about their memory in five-year trial Thousands of people across the UK who are worried about their memory will receive blood tests for dementia in two trials that doctors hope will help to revolutionise the low diagnosis rate. Teams from the University of Oxford and University College London will lead the trials to research the use of cheap and simple tests to detect proteins for people with early stages of dementia or problems with cognition, with the hope of speeding up diagnosis and reaching more people ..read more

The latest advert by the Alzheimer’s Society is shocking, but it tells the harsh reality about the disease that is the leading cause of death in Britain We see a man giving a speech at his mother’s wake. It starts off as you might expect. But he goes on to tell us how his mother died multiple times in the eyes of those who loved her. When she became convinced her friends were stealing from her. When she asked him, her son, what his name was. When she looked straight through his dad. Then he says she died a final time surrounded by the people who loved her. This is the latest ad ..read more

Are growing rates of anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, Alzheimer’s and motor neurone disease related to rising temperatures and other extreme environmental changes? In late October 2012, a category 3 hurricane howled into New York City with a force that would etch its name into the annals of history. Superstorm Sandy transformed the city, inflicting more than $60bn in damage, killing dozens, and forcing 6,500 patients to be evacuated from hospitals and nursing homes. Yet in the case of one cognitive neuroscientist, the storm presented, darkly, an opportunity. Yoko Nomura had found herself at th ..read more

The benefits of drugs such as donanemab, aducanumab and lecanemab are proving harder to quantify than potential harms, experts say It was heralded in news articles as a “breakthrough”, a “turning point” and a “gamechanger” for Alzheimer’s disease. Some experts went so far as to call the drug, donanemab, the “beginning of the end” for the debilitating condition. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in May 2023 released data from a clinical trial they said showed donanemab slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease by 35% over 18 months ..read more

The neurologist and author on the upsides to menopause, the truth about HRT, and what superpowers become available to women after their body and brain’s transition Menopause marks the end of a woman’s menstruation. But, starting on average at around 47 and taking four to eight years, it doesn’t just impact the body: thanks to the accompanying decline of the hormone oestrogen, it impacts the brain too. Lisa Mosconi studies that impact. Her new book, The Menopause Brain, examines the neurological symptoms of menopause, the new mental skills it can foster and the options for brain-inclusive menop ..read more

My friend and neighbour Edwin Hancock, who has died of cancer aged 67, was a leading figure in computer science. At the height of his career, he was among the top five most productive computer scientists in the world and the author of more than 1,000 academic works. He also supervised some 50 PhD students. From 1991 Edwin worked at the University of York, first as a lecturer, and from 1998 as professor of computer science, specialising in the emerging field of computer vision and pattern recognition. While his work was highly technical, it also had practical applications ..read more

Writer and dementia campaigner who believed that people should have the right to choose their own death The writer-activist Wendy Mitchell, who has died aged 68, won hearts and minds by advocating for living positively with dementia. She was determined to remind people that those living with the disease are not “sufferers” and that there is “a beginning, a middle and an end to the disease – with so much life to be lived in between”. She held strong beliefs that people should have the right to choose their own death, and campaigned for assisted dying laws in Britain – one of the subjects of her ..read more

Studies suggest the BCG jab discovered a century ago could provide a cheap and effective way of boosting the immune system to protect people from developing the condition Scientific discoveries can emerge from the strangest places. In early 1900s France, the doctor Albert Calmette and the veterinarian Camille Guérin aimed to discover how bovine tuberculosis was transmitted. To do so, they first had to find a way of cultivating the bacteria. Sliced potatoes – cooked with ox bile and glycerine – proved to be the perfect medium. As the bacteria grew, however, Calmette and Guérin were surprised to ..read more