Research into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is getting a significant injection of cash after Bill Gates pledged US$100 million of his own money to the cause. The co-founder of Microsoft will split the funding between two pathways to help find a cure for the neurological conditions.
The first $50 million will go to the Dementia Discovery Fund, which works with experts both in the industry and government to harness the best minds to find treatments. The second half of the money will help to further the work of several start-ups that are researching Alzheimer’s, reports Reuters.
Despite popular belief, dementia and Alzheimer’s are not the same thing. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia, with the umbrella term encompassing the conditions suffered by some 50 million people across the planet.
According to predictions made by Alzheimer’s Disease International, this figure will increase to 131 million by the year 2050. That is why so many scientists are keen to make progress in attempts to find a cure.
The billionaire has been doing his research and spoken to a number of experts in the field about Alzheimer’s over the past 12 months. As a result, Gates has identified five areas in which he believes more attention needs to be given.
They are: a better understanding of how Alzheimer’s develops; earlier detection and diagnosis; proliferating the number of approaches to halting the disease; making clinical trials more accessible; and a better use of data.
Source: www.barchester.com/news
