SOUTHEND Hospital is on the look out for people to take part in a clinical trial for a new treatment which could potentially reverse the causes of dementia.

Headed up by Dr Paul Edison from Imperial College London and initially funded by the Alzheimer’s Society, the threeyear trial aims to discover whether the diabetes drug liraglutide could also have benefits for people with dementia.

Now in its clinical trial stage, new participants in the early stages of dementia are needed to work with the hospital.

Participants will be injected with liraglutide or a placebo for a year, and will undergo brain scans and cognitive tests to monitor any changes as part of the £5million trial.

If the trial is successful, the Alzheimer’s Society say liraglutide could become a new treatment for Alzheimer’s within the next five to ten years.

Dr Farhad Huwez, the principal investigator at Southend Hospital, said: “I’m very pleased we are in a position where we can invite people in Southend to be part of this trial.

“While other drugs have shown disappointing results in clinical trials recently, the background research for this drug is very promising.

“People who sign up to this trial could therefore be playing an important role in moving us towards a new treatment for people with dementia in Southend and beyond.”

Research has shown that those with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than healthy people of the same age group. As a result scientists have put a particular focus on existing diabetes drugs to see if they could help treat Alzheimer’s disease and improve the memory of those who use it in both the early and later stages.

Around 850,000 people live with Alzheimer's disease in the UK, including 2,622 people with dementia in Southend.

Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer’s Society said: “Our focus on repurposing existing drugs as dementia treatments is an incredibly exciting way of bringing new treatments closer.

“Early evidence shows this drug which we already know is safe for people to use could potentially reverse the biological causes of Alzheimer’s even in the late stages.

“We now hope by funding this exciting new trial we can bring it closer to a position where it could one day be improving the lives of people with dementia.”

To find out more about participating in the trial, contact the researchers at memory@imperial.

ac.uk or call them on 0208 383 3704.