What do the researchers hope to do?
This project will look at results from already published studies to work out what happens to these patients. We will also look at detailed brain scans from another study in Canada to find out if any changes predict memory or how well the patient does over time. We will also contact a group of patients to find out what they feel is important for us to measure.
Finally, we will use advanced brain scans to look at blood vessels in the brain and the back of the eye to help us understand what might be going wrong with the blood vessels. Hopefully, this research will help us plan trials which are desperately needed for patients with stroke and dementia.
Why is this research needed?
Stroke (when parts of the brain do not get enough blood) and dementia causing memory problems can both be caused by diseased and abnormal small blood vessels in the brain. We do not know why this disease happens. Partly because of this, there are no treatments for this disease which causes suffering for patients and families.
Looking after these patients in the UK costs £16 billion pounds per year.
We can normally test new drugs in trials but it has been difficult to perform these trials up to now for this disease. This is because we do not know exactly what happens over time with these patients, and we are not sure about the best things to measure in the trials to find out if the treatment works or not.
There is also a lack of information about what patients feel is important and what they think should be measured in trials.
Award Type: Senior Clinical Lecturer Award - Scotland
Stroke Association Garfield Weston Foundation Senior Clinical Lectureship Award. This type of award is for candidates who are still spending up to 50% of their time in clinical practice.