Japan's health ministry is looking into a problem with a multi-million-dollar, state-backed research project on Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers say they have been unable to come up with results due to a large amount of unreliable data gathered from patients across the nation.
The 5-year study known as 'J-ADNI' was launched in 2008 to seek ways to detect Alzheimer's disease early and develop treatments.
38 medical institutions, including the University of Tokyo, took part in the study, the largest of its kind in Japan. The government and other organizations funded the 19-million-dollar project.
The study was aimed at tracking for 3 years more than 500 people with mild cognitive impairment, early-stage Alzheimer's disease patients and other related symptoms.
But researchers in charge of data analysis say they found that the study included at least 80 people who did not meet the study's criteria. These include patients suffering from dementia that was not due to Alzheimer's disease.
Source: NHK
