Every baby in UK to have DNA mapped under NHS ‘genomics revolution'
Parents would be asked to give consent for the tests, but some children may grow up with knowledge of their genetic risk of diseases such as Alzheimer's or aggressive cancers. A recent study of 7,000 babies found 27 carrying the BRCA1 'Jolie gene', which is linked to a sharply increased risk of breast cancer.
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Evening Standard
5 hours ago
- Evening Standard
Every baby in UK to have DNA mapped under NHS ‘genomics revolution'
Parents would be asked to give consent for the tests, but some children may grow up with knowledge of their genetic risk of diseases such as Alzheimer's or aggressive cancers. A recent study of 7,000 babies found 27 carrying the BRCA1 'Jolie gene', which is linked to a sharply increased risk of breast cancer.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
Man, 55, diagnosed with dementia after doctor noticed one sign before diagnosis
Jim Rogers, 58, was living and working in Australia when he started to develop symptoms of the incurable neurological condition early-onset dementia after his doctor noticed one sign A simple query from a doctor about his mobile set a dad-of-three on the road to a dementia diagnosis. Jim Rogers, 58, initially from the UK but residing and working in Australia, was passing on his expertise in house renovations when he began showing signs of the untreatable neurological condition. Colleagues and Jim's partner, Tyler, first spotted tell-tale symptoms which led him to consult his heart specialist, suspecting work or stress may be at fault. However, during his visit, it was his cardiologist who noted a worrying habit indicating something more serious, reports Surrey Live. He shared with ABC News: "One day I went to my cardiologist and she was getting a bit p***ed off with me because my phone was constantly going off. "She was like: 'Can you put it on silent?' And I had this blank where I couldn't even work it out. And it was her that said to me: 'Are you experiencing problems like this?' "So, she then referred me to a memory clinic. They analyse all sorts of things about the way you perceive information, they sent me for brain scans, they do all sorts of stuff. They asked me to have an appointment with the neurologist." Jim's subsequent tests led to a formal diagnosis of young-onset dementia, and he has been dedicated to increasing awareness of the condition since. Jim, diagnosed with dementia at the age of 55, suspects he lived with symptoms for up to two years before he received an official diagnosis Reflecting on the moment when he and his husband Tyler grappled with the diagnosis, Jim opened up about the initial shock. He recalled: "I think I was having symptoms for a couple of years until I actually got my diagnosis. "I looked at Ty and he was clearly very upset and so I knew it was heavy, but I didn't know much about Alzheimer's. I just thought it was an old person's disease." Jim sharing his story came just days after Australia greenlit a new medication for early-stage Alzheimer's, a drug called Kisunla. Approved by the Australian medical authorities, Kisunla stands out as a beacon of hope albeit with cautionary advice from experts such as Professor Christopher Rowe who spoke to The Guardian regarding the drug's potential limitations. He said: "We actually estimate that only about 10 to 20 percent of people with dementia will be suitable for the drug, but that is still a huge number given there's 400,000 people in Australia with dementia, and probably 40,000 diagnosed every year." Jim's candid disclosure follows shortly after this significant development in treating Alzheimer's Disease in its early stages, offering a glimpse of optimism amidst challenges surrounding treatment eligibility and costs – for those who do qualify, they may face an $80,000 bill (just over £38,000) for the therapy. The NHS lists several common early symptoms of dementia to watch out for on their website. They include: memory loss difficulty concentrating finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word being confused about time and place mood changes The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, which has its own set of symptoms, including: memory problems, such as regularly forgetting recent events, names and faces asking questions repetitively increasing difficulties with tasks and activities that require organisation and planning becoming confused in unfamiliar environments difficulty finding the right words difficulty with numbers and/or handling money in shops becoming more withdrawn or anxious For further details about dementia and for assistance and support, visit the NHS website.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- South Wales Guardian
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's charities identify new ways to reuse current drugs
Experts say that by repurposing drugs, they can 'increase the shots on target' at tackling the diseases. This method of drug development could also reduce the time patients are left waiting for new treatments by up to 10 years, they added. It comes after the NHS spending watchdog rejected the use of new Alzheimer's drugs lecanemab and donanemab for widespread use in the health service. The drugs were approved for use in the UK last year by the UK's medicines regulator but the NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), said they could not be used in the NHS because the benefits are 'too small' to justify the cost. Now charities Cure Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Research UK have joined forces to find current drugs that may tackle some of the common biology behind both diseases. After presentations to the International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT), which was set up by Cure Parkinson's over a decade ago, experts from both fields will select the most promising drugs for both Parkinson's and dementia, so they can be moved quickly into clinical trials. Weight loss jabs are already being investigated for their effectiveness in treating symptoms of both diseases and experts hope to uncover more drugs that can have multiple uses. Semaglutide, the active ingredient for weight loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, is being examined in clinical trials to see whether it can help patients with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's. Trial results for the Alzheimer's trial are expected to be published later this year. Dr Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, told the PA news agency that the iLCT project had already been 'hugely successful' with people who have Parkinson's, adding: 'Around 30% of disease modifying therapies that are in clinical trials for Parkinson's disease came through this process. 'What we wanted to do is to build on their knowledge and experience and expertise in order to be able to bring a process similar to that to Alzheimer's disease.' Dr Scales said that there are some 'common grounds' between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's – both are neurodegenerative diseases and have some 'common biological processes' – such as inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction and 'protein misfolding' – which could be targets for repurposed drugs. 'Getting multiple drugs that are targeting the disease is really important to us,' she said. 'Testing different types of drugs and getting as many shots on target is important.' She said: 'Repurposed drugs have already been demonstrated to be safe for use in humans development of new drugs for different diseases is a long process. 'What essentially bringing repurposed drugs does, is help to accelerate the drug development pipeline – it could save between five and 10 years within that process, compared to taking a new drug through clinical trials for the very first time.' Helen Matthews, chief executive of Cure Parkinson's, said the iLCT was originally set up to identify drugs that can potentially 'slow down, stop or reverse Parkinson's'. She added: 'It was through this programme that we realised that there were so many drugs that were also being looked at in the dementia field and there were commonalities there in terms of the drugs looking to reduce inflammation, or whatever it might be, there were specific pathways that those drugs were working on that could be beneficial for both disease areas. 'So given that we were already doing the (work) every year, it made sense to join forces in this way, just to add efficiencies. 'Because if you're looking at the same drugs, we'll only do that digging once, you know, only do that compilation of the dossiers once, so that you can actually take the learning for both diseases and then actually look and see which might be beneficial.' She said that the 'sharing of knowledge and digging' could also be shared with other disease areas, such as MS. And on lecanemab and donanemab, Dr Scales added: '(These) were the first disease-targeting therapies that have been licensed in the UK, but obviously are not available on the NHS at the moment. 'They showed for the very first time that we were able to alter the course of the disease. 'And what we're looking forward to now is what the next generation of treatments can bring us and how we can target different parts of the disease.' Dr Lucy Devendra, head of research at Alzheimer's Society, said: 'Repurposing medicines which are already known to be safe can help us find new treatments for the diseases that cause dementia much quicker. 'Although it is still early days, it's encouraging to see a renewed focus on this type of research and development.'
