“The current therapies are only symptomatic, that is, they mitigate symptoms but they don’t change the course of the disease. So an early diagnosis today would not help prevent dementia using the currently available drugs.

“Our research aims at understanding especially the earliest phases of the disease. Clinical trials aimed at clearing amyloid plaques have not yet succeeded at curing the disease, and therefore it is necessary to find new therapeutic targets.”

These latest findings come on the heels of 2015 reports by researchers at University College London that Alzheimer's "seeds" of dementia could possibly be transmitted, similar to Creuzfeldt Jakob Disease, between people accidentally, via blood transfusion or other bodily substances, such as growth hormone.

"The seeds will potentially stick to metal surfaces whatever the instrument is. With prions, we know quite a lot about that. Certainly, there are potential risks with dentistry where it's impacting on nervous tissue, for example root canal treatments," said Professor John Collinge, director of the Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, according to the paper.

"If you are speculating that amyloid beta seeds might be transferred by instruments, one would have to consider whether certain types of dental procedures might be relevant."

Although the risk is low, the researchers said that checking such transmission routes should be a research priority.

But it is not "contagious" in any way, such as the flu. "You can't catch it by living with someone who has Alzheimer's disease or being a carer," he stressed to the Telegraph. "No-one should consider cancelling or delaying any kind of surgery. But I think it would be prudent to do some research in this area."

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