CAMBRIDGE MP Julian Huppert is backing a call to make dementia research a priority.

A new poll shows people in the East of England fear dementia more than cancer and even more than death. The UK’s leading dementia research charity, the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, commissioned the national YouGov polls of over 2000 people to mark its re-launch as Alzheimer’s Research UK.

The charity is appealing to the public, Government and the private sector to help end years of pitifully low investment in research.

Findings from the poll reveal that 35 per cent feared dementia most, with 26 per fearing cancer and 16 per cent fearing death the most. Dementia remained the most feared among respondent across the UK and in all surveyed age categories.

The Thomson Reuters Evidence report shows that for every research UK scientist on dementia, six work on cancer.

And even though figures show that dementia costs the UK economy �23b, more than cancer (�12bn) and heart disease (�8bn) combined, research funding is far behind spending on other serious diseases.

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert, who hosted Alzheimer’s Research UK’s re-launch, said: “I am proud that the UK’s leading dementia research charity is based in Cambridge. As research experts, Alzheimer’s Research UK funds world-class pioneering scientists to find ways to diagnose, prevent, treat and cure dementia. “The impact of dementia is devastating, affecting not just the individual and the people around them, but costing the UK economy over �23billion a year.

“I recognise that dementia research needs to be prioritised and I am pleased to support the crucial work of this pro-active charity.”

Sir Terry Pratchett, patron of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Alzheimer’s is a large number of small tragedies usually played out behind closed doors, so in spite of the numbers living with it, the world still doesn’t take much notice. “When the world was shocked by HIV in the eighties, we saw a crash programme of research which has helped tame it enormously. We need the same kind of aggressive action on dementia now.”