Dementia cure could be discovered as early as 2020 claims the Health Secretary

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has claimed that drug companies could find a cure for the disease, which affects 800,000 people in the UK, by 2020.

During a speech at the Local Government Association’s annual conference, Mr Hunt discussed the research being conducted into cures for dementia by drugs companies.

According to The Telegraph, Mr Hunt said: “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.”

Mr Hunt described how it is DNA mapping that could be the key to understanding a wide range of diseases from dementia to cancer.

Plans are already underway which will lead to the UK becoming the first country in the world to successfully map the personal DNA code of up to 100,000 patients.

Mr Hunt has claimed that a breakthrough for DNA mapping would be the “medical equivalent of the invention of the internet in terms of its significance”.

Alzheimer’s Society has echoed his comments by claiming that a treatment for dementia could become a reality in the next ten years if there is more research into already licenced drugs and their ability to double as a dementia treatment.

Jeremy Hughes chief executive of Alzheimer’s Society said; “Dementia is the biggest health and social care challenge facing Britain today and the fact that a quarter of hospital beds are occupied by people with the condition shows the enormous burden dementia puts on the NHS. We need an allout fightback from government, industry and organisations like Alzheimer's Society to find a cure.

“There are currently more trials on going into hay fever than into some of the most common forms of dementia. It's not just about drug companies developing new medications from scratch. Studies we're funding show that drugs which are already licensed for other conditions may also treat dementia. If these are successful we could have them doubling as treatments for dementia within ten years.”