A cure for dementia could be just seven years away due to ‘incredible advances’ in medicine, says Health Secretary

Scientists are edging closer to discovering a cure for dementia, according to the British Health Secretary.

Jeremy Hunt has claimed that ‘incredible advances’ in British medicine are bringing us nearer to a treatment for the age-related brain disease.

He also said that the country’s ‘tremendous science tradition’ is crucial to securing the future of the NHS and meeting the challenges of an ageing society.

Mr Hunt made the announcement at the annual conference of the Local Government Association in Manchester, according to The Telegraph.

‘Finding drugs that can halt or cure dementia may seem a distant prospect now but there are drugs  companies that think they will have a cure for dementia by 2020.’

He added that the UK will be the first country in the world to map 100,000 genomes and decode patients’ medical history. This would unlock a ‘treasure trove’ of information to tackle diseases such as cancer, he explained.

He went as far as to say that the project would be the medical equivalent of the invention of the internet, in terms of its significance.
 
He later explained that societies should be judged by the way they care for their elderly residents and added that an increasingly old population should be perceived not as a ‘ticking time bomb’ but maybe as ‘humanity’s greatest triumph to date.’

To achieve this, he said that local authorities and the NHS must work together to find solutions that would ensure all elderly people were treated the way that anyone would want their grandparent to be looked after.

The three pillars of reform were outlined as being in contrast to the previous government’s ‘more targets, more pressure, more corporate objectives’.

This had resulted in ‘unspeakable human tragedy’ such as in Mid Staffordshire.

Mr Hunt concluded that in the future every patient would be given a named clinician so people knew whose responsibility it was when problems arose.

He said he would like this person to be the GP or someone who could ‘rediscover the tradition of personal responsibility’.

Source Mail Online