UK Dementias Platform

英国痴呆症平台（UKDP）是一种全新的痴呆症研究方法，汇集了来自22个队列的约200万研究参与者的数据，试图发现痴呆症的原因，并找到减缓痴呆症的方法。该平台已获得450万英镑的资金，并被邀请申请另外750万英镑的资金。为了实现我们的目标，即发现痴呆症的原因并找到减缓痴呆症的方法，我们将分析从英国各地收集的几十年来的数据，以确定药物研究的目标。我们还将丰富策略性选择的队列，为痴呆症的总体研究提供资源。这将包括发现早期痴呆症的过程是如何开始的，我们的基因是如何影响我们患痴呆症的风险的，以及我们的身体在维持和修复自身方面哪里出了问题。做这项工作有许多实际的挑战，包括如何在大型研究中评估痴呆症，而让每个人都接受医生的检查将是非常昂贵的。另一个挑战是如何衡量人群的认知能力下降，因为当人们开始下降时，他们往往没有动力去做认知测试。这项工作也有重要的伦理问题，我们有一些具体的项目，涉及参与详细的测量研究以及考虑大脑捐赠的伦理、法律和社会问题。为了尽快产生影响，我们将与最有能力将基础科学知识转化为有效疗法的行业合作伙伴密切合作。即使我们不能在短期内治愈痴呆症，如果我们找到减缓它的方法，这样没有人会随着年龄的增长而失去尊严，那就算是成功了。

The UK Dementias Platform (UKDP) is a radically new approach to dementias research, bringing together data from around 2,000,000 study participants from 22 cohorts to try and discover the causes of dementia and to find out ways of slowing it down. The platform has been funded to the level of £4.5M and invited to apply for a further £7.5M. To achieve our goals of discovering the causes of dementia and finding out ways to slow it down, we will analyse data collected over many decades from throughout the UK to identify targets for drugs studies. We will also enrich strategically selected cohorts to provide resources for dementias research in general. This will involve finding out how the early dementia processes begin, how our genes affect our risk of dementia and where our body goes wrong in maintaining and repairing itself. There are many practical challenges involved in doing this work including knowing how to assess dementia in large studies where having everyone examined by a doctor would be prohibitively expensive. Another challenge is how to measure cognitive decline in the population as when people begin to decline they are frequently less motivated to do cognitive tests.There are also important ethical issues surrounding this work and we have specific projects looking at ethical legal and social issues surrounding taking part in detailed measurement studies as well as in considering brain donation.To help make an impact as soon as possible, we will work closely with industry partners who are best placed to turn basic scientific knowledge into effective therapies.Even if we cannot cure dementia in the short term, it would count as a success if we found ways of slowing it down so that nobody need lose their dignity as they grew older.