As 2024 draws to a close, we look back at some of the breakthroughs in dementia research and the achievements and milestones of the Join Dementia Research service. 

More volunteers sign up to Join Dementia Research than previous year

More than 80,000 volunteers have now signed up to Join Dementia Research since its inception in 2015. 

By December, 12,280 people had registered for Join Dementia Research in 2024/25. This financial year runs from April 2024 to March 2025, so this number is set to rise even more in the new year. 

By comparison, 12,279 people signed up to our service between April 2023 and March 2024. With this increase in volunteers, we can help researchers recruit participants to their studies even faster. Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far. 

Blood tests for diagnosing dementia a step closer for UK

This year, researchers began carrying out countrywide trials to identify accurate and quick blood tests that can revolutionise dementia diagnosis. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is contributing almost £1m to the new research effort.

This research aims to identify tests that can diagnose different types of dementia faster than current methods. People are usually diagnosed using memory tests and brain scans, which can be inaccurate and do not confirm what type of dementia someone has. 

Researchers are based at University College London (UCL) and the University of Oxford. The two research teams form the Blood Biomarker Challenge.

They are testing multiple existing and new blood tests, looking at different types of dementia. This will include Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Lecanemab and donanemab receive regulatory approval for private use in the UK

The Alzheimer’s disease drugs donanemab and lecanemab were approved by UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This means they are available for private prescription in the UK. However, they were rejected by National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), so will not be available on the NHS.

Both drugs were rejected by NICE as the organisation considered its costs were too high, compared to the modest benefits it gives for people with Alzheimer’s disease. However, the discovery of these drugs has helped further our understanding of treatments that could be used for dementia in the future.

The drugs slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by targeting one of the root biological causes of the disease – amyloid beta protein. This is a toxic protein that builds up in the brains of people with early stages of Alzheimer’s.

In trials, the drug helped slow memory and thinking problems by about a third in people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The trials involved volunteers from the Join Dementia Research community. Thank you to all of those who took part. 

New shingles vaccine may reduce dementia risk 

A study by the University of Oxford and researchers found that Shingrix, a shingles vaccine, reduces dementia risk by 17% compared to the older Zostavax vaccine. 

Shingles is a painful and serious condition which commonly affects many elderly people. It is caused by the Herpes Zoster virus that can flare up in people who previously had chicken pox. The Zostavax vaccine against shingles was introduced in many countries in 2006. Since then there has been growing evidence that the jab could help protect against dementia. However, this new research revealed a different vaccine may be more effective. 

The research analysed health records of over 200,000 people and observed up to nine extra months lived without dementia. Published in Nature Medicine, the study highlights Shingrix’s potential to protect brain health, with further research needed to confirm these findings.

New Join Dementia Research animation launched 

We created a new animation to explain the Join Dementia Research service to the public and encourage even more people to sign up. 

The 2-minute long video covers how to sign up, what happens after signing up, how the service works and the types of studies you can take part in.

Looking ahead to 2025

We hope that 2025 will be a year that even more volunteers sign up to our service and further research breakthroughs can be made. 

It is also the year that we mark 10 years of matching volunteers with research studies they can take part in. 

Trials of new drugs are becoming increasingly available on Join Dementia Research, but these are just part of the fight against dementia. Studies looking at diagnosis and care are also important. This is because we also need to find ways to help people get an earlier diagnosis or have better experiences of care. 

Check your account regularly to see which studies you match to and if you’re not yet part of our community, sign up today!