Photo: Neurologist Dr Christopher Belder
Improving the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is the end goal of life-changing research underway in South Australia – thanks to your Home Lottery support.
Neurologist Dr Christopher Belder has been supported by The Hospital Research Foundation Group to run pioneering clinical trials through the CALHN Memory Service and Memory Trials Unit at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
One of those trials is testing the emerging new drug lecanemab as a way to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s (a type of dementia).
Lecanemab is not yet approved for routine public use in Australia, only through clinical trials and only to people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
“Our work here is to very much bridge that gap between the research space and routine clinical care,” Dr Belder said.
“With our ageing population and with treatment developments in a lot of other aspects of medicine advancing quite significantly, these treatments will be an important part of addressing what is an enormous healthcare issue.”
Described as the greatest healthcare challenge of our time, dementia is now the leading cause of death in Australia and has no cure.
Thank you for giving hope to people living with dementia and their families.