British researchers say a cure for Alzheimer’s disease could one day be possible, with experts suggesting truly life–changing treatments may emerge within the next five to ten years.
Speaking on the Today programme during Sir James Dyson’s guest edit, scientists said advances in dementia research mean the disease is no longer viewed simply as an inevitable part of ageing, but as a condition that could ultimately be treated, prevented and potentially cured.
Almost one million people in the UK are living with dementia, the majority of them with Alzheimer’s disease – and numbers are expected to rise significantly over the next decade.
Until recently, treatment options have been limited, largely focusing on easing symptoms rather than slowing or altering the disease itself.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh told the BBC it should be possible to go further in the future – stopping Alzheimer’s from progressing, preventing it from starting, and, over a longer timeframe, curing people who have already begun to develop symptoms.
Dr Clare Durrant said there is now genuine optimism in the field. ‘The evidence we have at the moment is that it’s a disease, and that we know from past experiences that disease can be cured,’ she said.
‘Maybe one day we’ll find evidence in the future that Alzheimer’s disease is inherently part of being human, and if we all lived to be 200 it would be so intertwined. But at the moment I don’t see that evidence.’
However experts cautioned that the brain’s complexity means certainty will depend on the results of future clinical trials.
British researchers say a cure for Alzheimer’sdisease could one day be possible, with experts suggesting truly life–changing treatments may emerge within the next five to ten years
During the show, BBC health and science correspondent James Gallagher was granted access to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where neurosurgeons were performing brain surgery to remove a tumour.
Small amounts of healthy brain tissue, normally discarded during such procedures, were instead rushed straight from the operating theatre to Dr Durrant’s laboratory.
She described the tissue taken from patients as a ‘precious gift’, donated on what is often the worst day of their lives.
‘We never forget the kind of amazing altruism that we see in these patients,’ she said. ‘They’ll sign a form and say, you know what, something good is going to come out of this bad day.’
Speed is critical. Once removed, the brain tissue must reach the lab and be placed into incubators within two hours to remain viable.
There, it is sliced into sections around a third of a millimetre thick – thinner than a human hair – and kept alive using oxygenated fluid and specialised equipment.
By working with what she calls a ‘perfect human brain model in a dish’, Durrant and her team can expose healthy brain tissue to toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, including amyloid and tau, extracted from the brains of people who died with the condition.
The researchers then observe how synapses are damaged – and crucially, how that damage might be intercepted.
The Duchess of Edinburgh, Patron of Race Against Dementia, with Dr Claire Durrant during a visit to Edinburgh Neuroscience to hear about the work of Race Against Dementia, which funds pioneering research into the prevention and cure of dementia
‘This is a problem that can be done,’ she said. ‘I’ve not seen so much hope in Alzheimer’s disease research than I do right now and there’s just so much to look forward to.
‘I’m really hopeful that we’ll see meaningful change in my lifetime.’
That optimism is shared by Professor Tara Spires–Jones, director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, who said recent breakthroughs have transformed the outlook for patients.
‘I’m very optimistic that in the short term we will have treatments that can meaningfully slow or stop disease progression,’ she said.
‘In the long term I think we should be able to prevent dementias entirely and hopefully we’ll get to a cure as well for people who already have symptoms.’
She said future treatments are likely to combine multiple strategies rather than rely on a single target.
Crucially, the arrival of lecanemab and donanemab, the first disease–modifying drugs – which slow Alzheimer’s progression rather than simply treat symptoms – has changed the culture of dementia research.
‘Things have really accelerated,’ Spires–Jones said. ‘Now that we have the first treatments that can modify the disease even a little bit, it’s opened the door to more funding, it’s bringing in smart people and it’s bringing in the pharmaceutical colleagues that we need to run these very expensive clinical trials.’
She added: ‘I’m hopeful that within the next five to ten years we should have something that’s much more meaningful.’
