Hundreds of thousands face being denied revolutionary new dementia drugs in England

To be eligible for either of the new drugs, patients have to be in the early stages of dementia and have had scans to confirm high levels of amyloid in their brain. Photograph: Science Photo Library/Alamy

Hundreds of thousands of dementia patients in England face being denied access to revolutionary new drugs because the diagnostic capacity of the NHS lags behind every other G7 country, according to a damning report.

After decades of research to find a cure for the condition projected to affect 153 million people worldwide by 2050, scientists have successfully developed the first treatments to tackle the underlying causes rather than only relieve the symptoms. Two new drugs could get the green light for use on the NHS within weeks.