Neuropsychological and serum markers for the dementias (v1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing combined blood-based biochemical and neuropsychological markers for differential diagnosis of the dementias
IRAS ID
215145
Contact name
William McGeown
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Strathclyde
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Currently over 46.8 million people worldwide have dementia, including 850,000 people in UK alone, and it is estimated that these numbers will rise to 131.5 million by 2050 [1, 2]. The worldwide cost of dementia in 2015 was estimated to be 818 billion in US dollars and this is predicted to reach US$1 trillion by 2018 and 2 trillion by 2030 [1].
Despite the large number of people with dementia, currently diagnosis is a significant challenge for non-specialist clinicians. Only 64% of people within Scotland and 48% of people within England, who are predicted to have dementia, receive a formal diagnosis [3]. Contributing factors to the low rates of diagnosis include overlap between cognitive symptoms relating to AD and of normal aging, and overlap in the symptomology of different neurological disorders. This overlap in symptoms and the lack of a single straightforward assessment makes diagnosis challenging.
Early diagnoses and treatment of dementia is extremely important and beneficial as some causes of cognitive decline can be treated or reversed (e.g vitamin B1 deficiency). In addition, although dementia cannot be cured, early detection and treatment can improve quality of life and can reduce overall costs through management of comorbidities, and maintenance of everyday function and symptom reduction - which then leads to less frequent hospital admissions and later admission into nursing homes.
The proposed project aims to investigate changes in cognition (using neuropsychological assessment) and blood serum (using vibrational spectroscopy) that occur in early stage AD and other dementias. It will assess the utility of blood based spectroscopy and neuropsychological assessment, in isolation, and in combination, to discriminate
• Early AD from normal ageing
• Early AD from other types of dementia[1] World Alzheimer Report 2015: The Global Impact of Dementia
[2] Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia UK update, 2014
[3] Alzheimer’s Society, Scotland's National Dementia Strategy, 2012.REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
18/WS/0145
Date of REC Opinion
7 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion