Cyprus begins clinical study to predict and prevent dementia

The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics (CING) this week launched the clinical phase of its COMFORTage research project on dementia, marking World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, and the COMFORTage study aims to develop methods for early prognosis and prevention of the condition.

Healthy individuals and those with memory disorders over the age of 50 are invited to participate in the research.

Drawing on CING’s multidisciplinary expertise, participants will be examined by a neurologist, neuropsychologist, speech therapist, physiotherapist and neurophysiologist.

The results will be compared with those of participants across Europe.

Notably, seven other countries are simultaneously conducting similar clinical studies with the goal of obtaining harmonised data.

These data will cover the clinical and molecular profiles of participants, including biochemical and molecular biomarkers, which will be determined using specialised bioinformatics methods.

The findings are expected to contribute to the development of healthcare models that will enable health professionals to provide dementia-related recommendations based on advanced research and tailored to each patient’s individual profile.

The COMFORTage project is funded by the European Union under Grant Number 101137301 and brings together health scientists, social scientists and researchers from 39 organisations in 12 countries.

CING is one of the participating institutions and leads one category of the clinical studies.

As part of its COMFORTage activities, CING co-organised an awareness day on dementia together with the Municipality of Nicosia.

In addition, smaller interactive workshops were held at CING’s premises with the aim of better understanding perspectives and gathering recommendations from groups involved in dementia-related activities.

These groups included dementia researchers, medical students and caregivers of individuals with dementia.

CING has committed to continuing similar activities to raise public awareness about dementia and to incorporate perspectives from a wide range of disciplines.

Future initiatives will be announced through CING’s social media channels.

Those interested in receiving further information about the study or in participating can contact CING by phone at 22392847 or by email at comfortage@cing.ac.cy.

More details can also be found on the project website at https://comfortage.eu/.