Prevention is key at "turning point" in Alzheimer's disease fight

In a National Press Club of Australia speech titled ‘Hope beckons’, Professor Henry Brodaty, Co-Director of UNSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), has called for the Australian Government to back prevention-focused dementia research as a national productivity strategy.

“We are at a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. The science is clear: dementia is not inevitable, and we now have the tools to delay onset and slow progression,” Brodaty said. “We don’t have a magic doorway out of this crisis, but we do have prevention, through smart investment in proven programs.”

More than 400,000 Australians live with dementia, a figure that is expected to double by the middle of this century — carrying an estimated $3.7 billion economic burden in direct costs annually.

The trial

As part of the address, Brodaty pointed to research published this week in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, which quantified differences in direct healthcare and program costs, and effectiveness outcomes between intervention and control groups from a healthcare sector perspective.

These results were based on a digital dementia prevention trial led by CHeBA and called Maintain Your Brain. The findings show that personalised, lifestyle-based intervention could significantly reduce dementia risk and improve cognitive and other health outcomes, all without adding extra burden to the healthcare system.

The trial — the largest online randomised controlled trial of its kind — involved more than 6100 Australians aged 55–77 with at least two modifiable risk factors for dementia.

After three years, those participants who received personalised online coaching in cognitive training, mental health, nutrition and physical activity showed greater reductions in dementia risk and significant improvements in cognitive performance compared to those who received general health information alone.

Importantly, no significant difference in cost per person over the trial period occurred, with the program costs almost completely matched by the savings in health costs over three years. What this suggests is that the program delivers results without straining health budgets.

“People engaged in Maintain Your Brain use fewer healthcare resources, which offsets the cost of delivering the program. In the long run, the program will deliver additional benefits on cognitive, physical, mental and social health that will more than pay back its costs,” Brodaty said.

A call for government action

“With Australia’s ageing population and growing dementia burden, investing in preventive programs could offer substantial health system savings while improving quality of life for older Australians,” Brodaty said.

“It’s time for a national movement for brain health, backed by research, scaled with urgency, and funded to save lives and money.”

The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease study was published open access and you can read it here.