Dementia Strategy for Canada 1

This more information on the Dementia for Canada and looks at one of the objectives to fight Dementia in Canada.

Objective of Canada: Advance therapies and find a cure.

The aspirations for the national objective of advancing therapies and finding a cure highlight the need to improve how therapies are developed and to broaden their availability, as well as to increase Canada’s dementia research effort. The national dementia strategy notes the importance of having research priorities informed by broad stakeholder input, including from people living with dementia and caregivers, as well as including them as active participants and partners in the research itself. It calls on researchers to include elements in their work that contribute to ensuring that findings can be quickly understood and put into practice, so that the benefits of these advances are realized sooner.

Activities in support of this national objective include efforts to develop and improve therapies that help to manage the symptoms of dementia and slow its progression. Research that supports this national objective ranges from exploration of the mechanisms that cause dementia, to the development and testing of innovative therapies that address different aspects of dementia. Treatment of dementia in Canada also benefits from access to and use of expert guidance, such as evidenced-based guidelines and best practices that are periodically reviewed and updated.

EFFORTS ACROSS CANADA

Understanding dementia better

•  An examination of the impact of high blood pressure on brain health using live imaging techniques has  resulted in  a  recommendation to  combine treatments targeting both hypertension and  amyloid for better results (University of Toronto).

•  COMPASS-ND is a large-scale a clinical study designed to learn about who is at risk of developing dementia, determine how early dementia can be detected, and find out what tests are most effective at detecting dementia. COMPASS-ND data was used to support research, published in 2019,that concluded that guidelines for screening for frailty need to be improved for people living with dementia.

•  A research project investigating the role of genetic signals in the brain using brain imaging in people diagnosed with pre-dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease is focused on revealing new treatments for dementia (Douglas Mental Health University Institute).

•  Weihong Song, a Canada Research Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease, is working on new disease-modifying treatments and identifying molecular mechanisms that lead to dementia, biomarkers (indicators) and drug targets (University of British Columbia).

Innovative therapies

•  A French Music Therapy Program offers free loans of headphones, speakers and digital music players containing personalized playlists to help French-speaking Yukoners retain language abilities and promote memory (Yukon Francophone Health Network and Department of Health and Social Services).

•  Adaptive Lighting for Alzheimer and Dementia INtervention (ALADIN) is a smart light system used to promote better sleep and subsequently improve cognitive and emotional wellbeing of people living with dementia (University of Toronto).

•  Sensor-based software platforms have been developed to track and improve the physical and cognitive health of people living with dementia at home and provide engaging cognitive and physical training (University of Alberta).

•  A low-cost and portable focused ultrasound technology has been developed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, using sound waves for therapy (Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto).

•  Affordable solutions are being developed to improve pain management for people with dementia who reside in long-term care facilities including an automated system that uses facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence (University of Regina and Toronto Rehab Institute).

Inclusive dementia research

•  The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging’s program, Engagement of People with Lived Experience of Dementia, enables individuals to be meaningfully and actively involved in the research process, including program direction, priority setting, conducting research and moving results into action.

•  Researchers are working with people living with dementia through participatory action research to learn how communities can “turn stigma on its ear” and promote active social participation of people living with dementia (University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Lakehead University)

Canadian consensus conferences on the diagnosis and treatment of dementia

Since 1989, clinicians treating people with cognitive decline associated with ageing have been meeting periodically to review the information available in the medical literature and publish recommendations for better management of people at risk of cognitive decline, with mild symptoms, or who have dementia. These conferences bring together all health disciplines involved in the diagnosis and treatment of dementia, in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Over the years (1998, 2006, 2012, 2019), updates and new themes have been added, such as early detection of cognitive decline, reduction of the risk of progression, and psychosocial and non-pharmacological interventions.

Themes for the 5th Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia (CCCDTD5) in 2019, were as follows: (1) biological diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease; (2) diagnostic criteria for vascular cognitive impairment; (3) detection of dementia; (4) imaging and other biomarkers; (5) non-cognitive markers of dementia; (6) risk reduction; (7) psychosocial and non-pharmacological interventions; and (8) deprescription of dementia medications.