Dementia Research Fund
Your donation will greatly assist the Centre for Brain Research’s work on combatting dementia prevalence.
New Zealand’s population is ageing, with a rapidly increasing number of people with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. In 2011, the prevalence of dementia in New Zealand was over 48,000, with projected prevalence of almost 150,000 by 2050. Alzheimer's disease progressively affects thinking abilities, producing profound functional impairment, loss of independence and significant health care needs. The physical and emotional strains placed on individuals and family/ whānau are immense. If we could delay dementia onset by five years, this would reduce dementia prevalence by 50%.
The Dementia Prevention Research Clinics are an exciting new research initiative to study the earliest stages of dementia, in people joining a longitudinal and intervention study. The initial DPRC in Auckland was established in 2015 in association with the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland. There are also now clinics in Christchurch and Dunedin.
A key aim of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinics is to identify biomarkers that predict which individuals will progress to dementia, and to identify factors that influence rate of progression. Your donation will greatly assist the Centre for Brain Research’s work on combatting dementia prevalence.