International experts target Alzheimer's gains at Hong Kong conference
Experts hear that more accurate blood test and form of arthritis which may prompt debilitating dementia
A more accurate blood test and the existence of a form of arthritis are among potential diagnostic areas that international medical experts have identified in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.
Arthritic inflammation in other parts of the body might be seemingly unrelated to Alzheimer's, but research indicated it could worsen the disease, a three-day dementia conference that ended in Hong Kong yesterday heard.
Prevention is key as medical science still has no cure for the age-related illness, which now affects 36 million people throughout the world. The World Health Organisation estimates the total will double every two decades.
In Hong Kong, Alzheimer's afflicts one in three residents over the age of 85 - but research on the subject was lacking in the city, mainland China and other Asian countries, said Professor Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, dean of the University of Science and Technology's science school.
Dr Maria Carrillo, chief science officer of the US-based Alzheimer's Association, said: "The financial stress on the family and the health care system is really intolerable today and is not going to be manageable in the future - unless we solve this problem.
"People can live with dementia for up to 20 years. But after the third year, they are most likely to require 24-hour care that is extremely expensive."
Ip and Carrillo were among more than 20 experts discussing the irreversible condition, whose cognitive problems include speech impairment and memory loss, at the event hosted by the university and the US-based association.
