Just 8p in every £10 spent looking after dementia patients goes on research into the causes , shocking figures reveal . The outlay on stroke research is little better , with 19p allocated from each £10 spent on the health and social needs of patients . A study says the amount spent by the Government and charities studying dementia and strokes is ‘ still way too low ’ . Just 11 per cent of research funding from he Government and charities into the UK ’ s leading causes of death and disability was allocated to dementia , research has found . Despite extra cash pumped into the two diseases recently by government bodies , they remain underfunded given the economic and personal impact felt by millions of sufferers and their families , say researchers . In comparison to cancer and coronary heart disease they are still poor relations , according to calculations by Oxford University academics . The amount spent on cancer research is around 13 times higher than dementia , and almost six times more than stroke . The spend on heart disease is eight times that of dementia and triple the amount spent on stroke research , says the study published in the online journal BMJ Open . Researchers assessed central government and charity research expenditure in 2012 into the UK ’ s leading causes of death and disability – cancer , coronary heart disease , dementia and stroke which together accounted for over half of all deaths . The combined amount of research funding allocated by the Government and charities to the four conditions came to £856million in 2012 , almost two-thirds of which was allocated to cancer . Around one-fifth was devoted to coronary heart disease , while just 11 per cent was allocated to dementia and 7 per cent to stroke research . The study found a significant shift in funding since 2008 , particularly after a commitment by the Coalition to new money for dementia research . But the sums allocated by charities have scarcely budged since 2008 , possibly because they rely on public donations which may be affected by ‘ a form of ageism ’ where dementia and stroke are seen as inevitable only in the elderly . Research leader Professor Alastair Gray , of the Health Economic Research Centre at the Nuffield Department of Population Health , Oxford University , said overall research funding has not been cut but priorities had shifted . Almost two-thirds of research funding allocated by to the four conditions was allocated to cancer . Overall research spending by government bodies went up 20 per cent over the period , but there was a change in diseases that benefited . In 2012 , £157million was spent on cancer research by government bodies , down from £267million in 2008 . Prof Gray said : ‘ There was increasing recognition that expenditure on dementia should rise and this was reflected in the Coalition agreement . ‘ As a consequence less was spent on cancer because of the increasing emphasis on dementia and stroke , but these areas remain underfunded when compared with the burden of disease. ’ He said research funding was ‘ still way too low ’ in both diseases , especially for stroke . There are at least 800,000 dementia patients and 1.2million stroke victims needing health and social care each year in the UK , compared with 2.3million cases of cancer and the same number of heart disease cases . Costs of healthcare were highest for cancer at £4.4billion and lowest for dementia at £1.4billion and stroke at £1.8billion . But social care costs of dementia outweighed social care costs of the other three conditions combined . Health and social care for dementia cost £11.6billion in 2012 – more than double the equivalent bill for cancer . This means that for every £10 of health and social care costs attributable to each condition , £1.08 in research funding was spent on cancer , 65p on coronary heart disease , 19p on stroke , and just 8p on dementia , the researchers calculated . Hilary Evans , of Alzheimer ’ s Research UK , said the charity has more than doubled its annual commitment to research since 2008 . She added : ‘ It will be vital for the next government to make dementia research a priority if we are to defeat the condition. ’ Dr Doug Brown , of Alzheimer ’ s Society , said : ‘ Alzheimer ’ s Society has pledged to spend at least £100million on dementia research over the next decade – more than ever before – but if we ’ re going to improve the quality of care , develop better treatments and ultimately cure dementia we need politicians to pledge continued commitment and set out an ambition to create a step change in research funding. ’ Dr Dale Webb , of the Stroke Association , said that if the ‘ wholly inadequate ’ level of research funding into stroke remains the same , ‘ we will not be ready for the challenges a growing and ageing population will bring ’ .
Just 11 per cent of research funding is allocated to dementia . Money comes from both the British Government and charities . Almost two-thirds research funding was allocated to cancer .