Dementia Support Line
Complaint upheld against advertising of NeuroAD as Alzheimer’s disease treatment
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) have upheld a complaint made against Neuronix for their advertising of a medical device in relation to Alzheimer's disease.
A complaint made against Neuronix for their advertising of NeuronAD as a medical device for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease has today (21 March 2018) been upheld by the Advertising Standards Agency.
In magazine advertising appearing in July 2017, NeuroAD was described as “a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease” with patient benefits listed including: improved memory, mood and overall daily living, better language name and face recognition and noticeable improvements in attention and focus.
The NeuroAD system combines repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation with computerised cognitive training.
The Advertising Standards Agency investigated the complaint, reviewing a range of published and unpublished papers submitted by Neuronix. They concluded that the current evidence base was insufficient to support the claims and ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form.
Dr Doug Brown, Chief Policy and Research Officer at Alzheimer’s Society, said:
'Of the top ten causes of death in the UK, dementia is the only one that we can’t cure, prevent or even slow down – so understandably, people are desperate for anything that could help. But the way new ‘cures’ often appear in the media makes it hard for people affected by dementia to sort fact from fiction.
'It’s encouraging to see the Advertising Standards Authority taking action to stop unsubstantiated claims about Alzheimer’s treatments, as there simply isn’t enough evidence for this particular therapy to recommend it.
'NeuroAD has shown some potential benefits for people with dementia, but this has only been demonstrated in preliminary studies which are not the same as robust clinical trials.
'We would welcome more in-depth testing to better understand its effects.'
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