Prince George, B.C. – Prince George is set to play a role in this country’s largest study on dementia.

It’s been launched by the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) and will last two years and include 1,600 participants between the ages of 50 and 90. Roughly 20 of those will be based right here in Prince George.

“Typically, our patients aren’t represented in these types of studies so I’m really excited about that,” says Dr. Jacqueline Pettersen with the Northern Medical Program.

“My role will be to enroll interested participants that fit the criteria and we will do the testing and assessments here in Prince George. That information is then pooled together from all the other sites across Canada and it will give us a wealth of information.”

She says the study has several goals.

“We are hoping to be able to identify the disease earlier, so hopefully we’ll learn which tools are the best at identifying the disease early or maybe even identify who’s most at risk of developing the disease,” says Pettersen.

“We’re hoping also to take some steps towards developing treatments; maybe those are largely lifestyle based as well as ultimately providing some insight into how we prevent dementia from developing in the first place.”

She says the study will begin within the next few months and expects results within the next three to four years.