A NEW drug will offer hope to people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families, says a volunteer in Worcestershire.

Ken Crump hopes new drug Rember will help people in the county who suffer from the devastating brain disorder.

Mr Crump, a volunteer co-ordinator at the Alzheimer’s Society information centre in Rowan House, Osborne Road, Malvern, said: “This is a devastating illness and anything that helps a person with dementia is good.

“At one time all we could offer was advice, support and a bit of social care. Now the future looks a bit brighter. It looks like there’s some form of treatment that may help.”

Trials conducted by the University of Aberdeen suggest the drug could slow the progress of the disease by up to 81 per cent and may be twice as effective as existing treatments.

In Worcestershire there are about 6,400 people with Alzheimer’s or dementia and this is expected to rise to 8,800 people by 2021 as the population ages.

Mr Crump, a former community psychiatric nurse at the Elgar Unit at Newtown Hospital in Worcester, has met hundreds of people with the illness and seen first-hand the terrible impact it has on them and their families.

He said: “When your memory is affected, everything else is affected. Everything you and I take for granted becomes a problem. People get very muddled and confused. There’s still no cure and this drug offers hope. All we can do is hope.”

Richard Harling, director of public health for Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, said: “The drug looks promising but is at an early stage of development – we’ll need much more detailed research to establish whether it is safe and how effective it is.

”Worcestershire Primary Care Trust and Worcestershire County Council both invest significant resources in dementia across medical and nursing care, social services and support.

“We will be increasing investment in dementia over the next three years to improve services and in response to the rising prevalence.”

The drug could be available to patients within four years, although in the wake of the NHS ban on the £2.50-a-day drug Aricept, there are concerns about whether it could be funded via the NHS.