00:00The diagnosis is done through some medical tests, for example, taking blood tests, so
00:09which can, with some accuracy, can tell about the presence of how much disease is there.
00:20And so tell us about the test that your team has developed.
00:25So we are developing a test which is using brain scans.
00:30So what we're doing is this, we are using these brain scans of people when they don't
00:38have the symptoms, and then we use these brain scans to predict the dementia up to nine years
00:47before it is officially diagnosed.
00:50So nine years is a good heads up.
00:53Should treatment then conceivably begin earlier for that patient?
00:59That's absolutely correct.
01:00So currently, most of the clinical trials and treatments are focused on when the symptoms
01:09are manifesting.
01:11And that's too late because a lot of brain cells have millions, billions of them have
01:17damaged, have been already been damaged.
01:20So the earlier that we can start treatment, it will be better.
01:29And this new method using MRI scans, how would people know to get the scan in the first place?
01:35I mean, do you anticipate it being made available to particular groups like people who've maybe
01:40been identified as being at greater risk of dementia?
01:44Absolutely, that's correct.
01:46So people who are at high risk because they have a family member who has dementia, some
01:57people may have other polygenic risk associated.
02:02So these could be the people that the doctors might want to prescribe that they take a brain
02:12scan so we can predict if they will develop dementia much earlier in time.
02:22And Adil, I know this is a very new test that you've developed, but I'll ask the question
02:26that I know many people watching will have, especially those who are concerned that maybe
02:31they are at particular risk.
02:33Do we have a sense of how long it will be until these tests are made available?
02:39So these new tests, we are hoping that they should be within two to five years.
02:47So there is still some work to be done, more validation required.
02:54But this is significant at this point that we can do this.
03:00So we are hoping not a very long turnaround.
03:05Just how significant is the problem of dementia in Australia?
03:09Currently, dementia is the leading cause of death in women in Australia and second leading
03:18cause of death in men.
03:22So it's substantial, it's substantial.
03:27The economic burden is immense.
03:33The demands on the carers is immense.
03:37It's just not the patient themselves, but people around them.
03:41So it's, we are aging nation as well.
03:46So it's substantial.
03:49It's a significant amount of both economic and social benefits such a test can bring.
03:59Wow, leading cause of death for women and second leading for men.
04:02It just goes to show what an important issue this is and how important developments like
04:07this new test that can predict so much earlier whether someone might develop the condition.
04:11We'll leave it there, Adil Razi.
04:12Thank you so much for speaking to the ABC News Channel today.
04:16Thank you, Robyn.
04:17Thank you.
04:19Thank you.
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