Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Ready by 2040, Top Expert Says

One of the leading experts in the United Kingdom said an effective treatment for Alzheimer's Disease will be ready by 2040. As per Cardiff University Professor Julie Williams, there are 92 genes known to be related to the disease, meaning that there is a massive knowledge increase about it.

Alzheimer's Disease Treatment by 2040

Alzheimer's Disease is a progressive form of dementia and has been known for having no cure or effective treatment to slow the progression of symptoms. Not until a professor and her team discovered something new with the disease's treatment in the United Kingdom.

Professor Julia William's team at Cardiff University has identified 92 genes that increase the risk of having Alzheimer's Disease. According to BBC's report, the team had previously known only three genes at the beginning of their research in 2009.

"Things are speeding up and improving all the time. I've learned more in the last seven years than I did in the previous 20," she stated. Williams is one of the top leading experts in the United Kingdom, and aside from being a professor, she is also the director of Cardiff University's UK Dementia Research Institute, who has been studying the disease for 30 years already.

Through this new discovery, Williams sees an optimistic view that advanced gene therapies will reveal more about the disease through the leading doctors, researchers, and patients and families to a treatment that will decrease the chances or slow the progression of the disease.

Williams added that once the researchers already know where to start looking, they can study the effects that genes have on specific brain activity, along with an improved understanding from studies outside the United Kingdom.

Progression Through the Years

According to Alzheimer's Disease International's data, the disease afflicts 850,000 people each year, with more than 10 million cases annually around the globe. Although not all dementia symptoms can lead to this, Alzheimer's is the leading diagnosis which means targeting it will be more important.

Based on decades of research regarding Alzheimer's and dementia revealed that there is not a single cure for the disease. However, the treatment will need to take a more holistic approach by attacking its various causes from any angle.

Interesting Engineering reported that Williams' team revealed that the pace of progress can lead to some treatment by 2040. "By 2040 I think we'll be in the position to offer a range of treatment and we might not know exactly why, but one of them will be able to act on the huge range of causes," she noted.

As per a report last month, the voluntary health organization Alzheimer's Association revealed that patients could double in 2050 due to various challenges with the disease. This includes a lack of communication with doctors and other health professionals and missed opportunities for early-stage diagnoses.