To mark World Alzheimer’s Day, the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging is launching a massive clinical study – the Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND).
It will be largest study of its kind ever done in the country. Over two years, researchers plan to study 1600 participants between the ages of 50 and 90 with memory problems from 30 communities across Canada, including in Prince George.
“I’m very excited that Prince George is going to have the opportunity to contribute to this study,” says Dr. Jacqueline Pettersen, an academic cognitive neurologist at UNBC and the study’s principal investigator in Prince George. “It’s unique for a couple of reasons. One is that it will be Canada-wide and it will involve not only large urban centres but also smaller centres.”
Most studies take place in big cities and Pettersen says this is a chance for researchers to find out if residents of smaller cities experience dementia differently.
One of the study’s major goals is to look at all forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s and cerebrovascular disease, and the ways they interact.
“We will also be looking at the overlap between those different disease entities. Often times, in the real world, people don’t just have a pure form of dementia but they may have two or sometimes even three different types.”
Researchers hope to better understand what different dementias have in common and what differentiates them. This could lead to better diagnostic tools and more effective prevention.
Teams at different locations will be examining specific types of dementia. Pettersen is the co-lead of the Frontotemporal Dementia research team.
“It’s a type of dementia that tends to target younger individuals. We see it in people under the age of 60. Often it does run in families. It often doesn’t target cognition – it’s usually behaviour that is affected early on.”
Because it doesn’t look like other types of dementia, at least initially, Pettersen says sufferers are often diagnosed with psychiatric or mood disorders, leading to delays in treatment.
Dementia is a growing problem in Canada. An estimate 564,000 Canadians currently suffer from the disease. That number is expected to rise to more than 900,000 by 2031.
The study aims to learn more about who is at risk of dementia, how early it can be detected and which tests are most effective. You can learn more about the study here.
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