Incidence of dementia in England and Wales - The MRC cognitive function and ageing study

This paper focuses on one study. Individually, each cohort study contributes limited insights across a range of topic areas. Together they represent a powerful resource for global insight. They each contribute unique data to help build up the jigsaw of knowledge required to gain a full understanding of ageing and frailty. The field has come a long way since Bob Katzman's early days with an enormous amount of e.ort from a relatively small research community to the huge endeavor it is now. To keep these cohort studies going, dedication and perseverance are required drawing on inspiration from those at the cutting edge of biologic science. This produces a creative cycle of hypothesis generation and testing from laboratory to population and back again. Interdisciplinary approaches have allowed application of novel findings to the population. More work is needed on integration of epidemiologic, social, psychologic, and biologic fields to advance the detailed understanding of the complexity of the ageing brain in society. This would be of value to the new and massive studies of gene and environmental interaction in chronic disease being launched such as BioBank (www.ukbiobank.ac.uk). Although such studies are described in many places as addressing Alzheimer disease and dementia, the challenges these studies face and their solutions have yet to be fully tackled. All these studies also have the capacity to examine healthy ageing in social and cultural context and to contribute to the public health debates on maintenance of independence at advanced age. Copyright © 2006 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.