Manchester dementia scientist optimistic for breakthrough but wants faster progress

  • Video of Dr Helen Beaumont talking to ITV Granada correspondent Elaine Willcox

A leading dementia researcher says progress is being made in terms of diagnosis but it still needs to be far faster.

Dr Helen Beaumont, 72, has personal experience of dementia when her husband Clive was diagnosed at just 46.

The couple had met at Oxford University, Helen studying Physics and Clive Bio-Chemistry.

But after joining the Parachute Regiment he started to struggle with simple tasks.

Helen and Clive Beaumont on their wedding day Credit: Family picture

He first approached his GP, aged just 40, to say he had problems 'reading and writing' but was reassured it was normal.

Five years later, he had lost his job and could no longer be be left on his own to safely look after his children.

When a consultant rang to tell his wife he had early onset dementia, he said there was no cure and they did not hear from him again.

Clive Beaumont started to struggle to read to his children before he was diagnosed with dementia Credit: Family picture

With two young children, she was on her own looking after her husband for the next year, before he went into full-time care, dying just five years later, aged just 51.

Helen has written a book, Losing Clive to Younger Onset Dementia, one family's story about the lack of support and need for greater awareness of the disease.

In a bid to make even more of an impact, in 2008 aged 58, Helen left her home in Oxford to move to Manchester to become a dementia researcher.

Dr Beaumont celebrating her PHD and continuing her work as a dementia researcher in Manchester Credit: Family picture

After completing a PhD in 2015 she now specialise in using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to investigate brain changes in people with dementia with the aim of improving diagnosis.

She is determined other families do not have to go through the years of anguish she and her husband went through in the 1990s.

But sadly like Clive, people are still waiting five years or more to be diagnosed.

Dr Beaumont with her husband Clive and young children Credit: Family picture

There are several thousand people in the UK who develop young-onset dementia and a gap of several years between first noticeable symptoms and diagnosis is common.

Despite her experience, Dr Beaumont is optimistic about a breakthrough in treatment and an eventual cure.

"Absolutely it's coming, I hope I see it, we are much more aware of what's going on in the brain than we were.

"I wanted to do something, to see if I could help better diagnosis the illness.

"We’ve seen significant breakthroughs in our understanding of dementia. Just as importantly, there’s also a lot more public awareness.

"It is no longer an illness to be hidden, but something that more people are prepared to talk about. And that has to be a good thing."

She asks: "How can you study an illness if you refuse to admit it exists, particularly at a young age?"

When she considers what her late husband would make of her dedication to research, she said, "Knowing Clive he would probably say I never expected anything else."

Dr Beaumont is working with AINOSTICS to identify the earliest biological signs of some of osociety’s most devastating diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease.

She has also been made a Champion of Alzheimer’s Research UK in recognition of her work to raise awareness of dementia.

The charity specialises in finding preventions, treatments and a cure, and supports pioneering dementia research projects in leading universities across the UK.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...