Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Alzheimer’s Society have launched the £5m project aiming to bring simple tests to the NHS which it is hoped will accelerate diagnosis.

Currently, diagnosing Alzheimer’s is challenging for several reasons including cost, time and patient discomfort. Speaking on Sky News, UWL’s Dr Northcott said,

The impact that Alzheimer’s blood diagnosis tests being offered on the NHS could be phenomenal. At the moment, for a diagnosis for dementia we have a series of tools: MRI scans [of the brain] which are hugely costly and involves technology for which the NHS only has a certain amount of capacity. There is also a procedure known as a lumbar puncture [the withdrawal of spinal fluid from the lower back] which is very unpleasant to go through; and then we have the memory tests which normally happen once somebody already has many of the symptoms of dementia and it's too late to do much in terms of treatment.

We need to be careful about this, however. This could be a huge breakthrough, but it is not a breakthrough at this point. So, I don't want people watching at home to have false hope.”

Dr Northcott’s research at UWL is to respond to current health care challenges in the NHS by examining hidden inequalities in healthcare settings and their impacts on patient experience and healthcare professionals in hospital settings.

Since 2015 he has focused on the largest single patient group admitted to NHS hospitals in the UK, People Living with Dementia.

Dr Northcott is currently a co-applicant on an interdisciplinary application in the field of dementia, examining the use of restrictive practices in the care of people living with dementia within acute hospital settings.

The Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory delivers research and education that informs and improves quality of care and support for people living with dementia, their families, and health and social staff caring for them examining care across a range of care settings and for a diverse range of people.

• Find out more about the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory
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