Dementia Charity Launches Mass Survey to Help Shape Future Treatments

The U.K. dementia research charity Alzheimer's Research UK is recruiting participants for a new online survey that could help influence future dementia treatments, reports BioSpace . The Shaping Future Treatments survey queries participants for their views on aspects of daily life that they value most highly, and which they would most like to preserve if they were to develop a disease that induces dementia. "Any new treatment would need to be deemed effective enough before it could become available," said survey developer Graeme Armstrong, whose wife suffers from Alzheimer's. "It's hugely important that decision-makers know what matters to people like us, so I'd urge everyone to take part in this survey." The poll's results will be used to help inform regulators and healthcare decision-makers in their evaluation of new treatments, and also shared with scientists who are working to develop future treatment strategies. "We're asking everyone to take part in our survey, whether they have experience of dementia or not, to make sure we capture as many opinions as possible," said Alzheimer's Research UK Chief Executive Hilary Evans. "We'll build on the results with further research, to understand what side effects people would accept in a treatment that could provide the benefits that they deem most important."