Probe into why stroke victims develop dementia

A THIRD of all stroke survivors could develop dementia within five years, experts have warned.

Most of the cases are vascular dementia, for which there is no treatment.

Now the Alzheimer’s Society, the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association are investing £2.2million into a research programme on the disease led by the University of Edinburgh.

Around 150,000 in the UK are living with vascular dementia and estimates suggest that by 2050 the number could more than double. Symptoms include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problemsolving or language.

Part of the investment will fund a clinical study involving about 2,000 stroke patients over a period of at least two years. Researchers hope that comparing stroke patients who develop vascular dementia with those who don’t, will help them unpick the causes of the disease.

The trial will help to improve how doctors identify and treat dementia related to stroke in the future.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘To survive a stroke only to be diagnosed with dementia is the heart-breaking reality for hundreds of thousands of people in the UK.

‘We know that stroke survivors are more likely to develop vascular dementia. What we don’t know is why. And right now doctors are powerless to prevent the onset of this devastating disease in people who have already had a stroke.

‘By funding this research we’re hoping to give patients answers.’