Hope for Dementia takes the position that it is possible to reduce the number of new diagnoses by finding therapies that eliminate symptoms. Investing in dementia prevention as a major health policy priority in every country is the first, critical step. There are currently promising signs of progress in dementia research in the areas of prevention, symptom deceleration and reversal. Increasing investments in research and services in these areas provides reasonable hope for dementia growth trends to be reduced and ideally, reversed.
Our White Paper proposes a framework to reduce these trends through prevention, deceleration, and reversal of symptoms throughout three levels of public health disease prevention practices and proposes services that should be delivered cost effectively within the health care system.
Tertiary prevention: Improving treatment and recovery / disease reversal
Tertiary strategies for dementia involve applying drug therapies proven to drive symptom reversal. Hope for Dementia advocates the proactive recruitment of persons with mild cognitive impairment and diagnosed with early-stage dementia to participate in research and clinical trials on promising symptom reversal.