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Dementia miracle drug ‘will go to waste’ without rise in diagnoses

By Laura Donnelly HEALTH EDITOR

THE first drug to reverse dementia will be wasted on Britain unless it dramatically improves diagnosis rates, experts have warned.

Next week, trials are expected to show injections of lecanemab can significantly slow the disease and decrease memory decline. Scientists have already hailed early results as a “historic moment” after it was shown to cut progress of the disease by 27 per cent.

But there are fears that poor diagnosis rates – which have fallen since the pandemic – means thousands of people who could benefit will never get the drug. Official estimates show 62 per cent of cases in England are diagnosed, down from 67.4 per cent in February 2020.

And even those who are diagnosed are unlikely to get the types of scans which are required to see if a person could benefit from lecanemab.

Writing on the Telegraph’s website, Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research at Alzheimer’s Society, said that lecanemab has indicated “a promising route to slow down deterioration in thinking and memory skills”, but added: “Without even knowing the cost of rolling out this drug, we’re already up against three barriers in the UK. First, diagnosis rates are at a five-year low in the UK and stagnating. Second, variation in dementia diagnosis guidelines across the UK means that some people could be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease without a clinician confirming if that they have amyloid in their brain, and would therefore benefit from a drug like lecanemab.

“Third, the UK’s access and availability of brain scanning equipment languishes at the bottom of international tables.”

Data show that as of 2019, Britain has 70 PET-CT scanning locations. A 2021 audit showed that just 76.9 per cent of memory services could refer people for PET scans and 44 per cent for CSF tests, which test for amyloid protein in the fluid around the brain and spinal cord.

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2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281822877810682

Daily Telegraph