Society’s response to dementia must be multi-faceted and at the University of Sheffield we have an impressive track record contributing to this response. Building on this and thinking ahead we have currently a range of cutting-edge postgraduate research studies being undertaken across different disciplinary areas within the university. David Reid, organiser of the Dementia Futures Conference describes what makes this event unique.

Economic evaluation of healthcare interventions follows the guideline produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE recommends a Cost Utility Analysis (CUA) approach where outcomes are health effects on patients (and carers where relevant) expressed in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs), and costs are restricted to only those falling on the budgets of the NHS and Social Services. An individual-level simulation is developed to estimate all costs and...

Hearing loss is generally underdiagnosed in the population but it is estimated to affect 1 in 6 people, and 2/3 of these will be over 65. One of the most common causes for hearing loss is presbycusis (age related hearing loss) which is progressive, and tends to affect both ears symmetrically and typically starts to occur over the 4th decade. Ageing in general is accompanied by a decline in memory and attention, but current research has shown that there may be more than just the age of a...

Older adults with late stage dementia are likely to lack the capacity to make decisions regarding care and treatment on their own, and subsequently these decisions may rely on a proxy decision-maker. In most cases, a carer will assume the role of decision maker, and this will involve navigating which services and treatments are most appropriate for women with a breast cancer diagnosis. The Mental Capacity Act (2005) sets out the guidelines for safeguarding individuals who are unable to make...

It is believed that in many amyloid diseases, including Alzheimer’s, the primary toxic species responsible for neurodegeneration are small oligomers of the causative protein, rather than the fibres that often define the disease. I have, therefore, isolated oligomers of our model protein Cystatin B and those of Amyloid β in order to further characterise them.

The availability of touchscreen tablet devices on the market has led to an increased interest in their potential usefulness for people with dementia, particularly for providing meaningful and enjoyable activities. The challenge is to identify off-the-shelf applications (apps) that are suitable for people living with dementia. The InTouch project attempted to find out what features games need to make them engaging to people with dementia and how to identify apps that are suitable for people...

Amyloid beta deposition in the brain is the hallmark of Alzheimers disease. Co-deposition of other amyloidogenic proteins like transthyretin, human cystatin C have been found in the plaques along with A beta. Revealing the details of the interaction between these proteins with A beta peptide in vitro is able to provide insight into finding new therapies for the disease.

Why do most of us only get dementia when we grow old? One suggestion is that in the young, some proteins interact with the species known to be involved in dementia preventing them from becoming toxic. This talk is interested in the behaviour of the cystatin C (HCC) protein, which normally has a useful but unrelated function, and it’s interaction with the amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) which is thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease.