LONDON (Reuters) – Loss of memory and other brain function can start as early as age 45, posing a big challenge to scientists looking for new ways to stave off dementia, researchers said Thursday.

The finding from a 10-year study of more than 7,000 British government workers contradicts previous notions that cognitive decline does not begin before 60 years of age, and it could have far-reaching implications for dementia research.

Pinpointing the age at which memory, reasoning and comprehension skills start to deteriorate is important because drugs are most likely to work if given when people first start to experience mental impairment.

A handful of novel medicines for Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, are currently in clinical trials, but expectations are low and some experts fear the new drugs are being tested in patients who may be too old to show a benefit.

Companies with products in development include Eli Lilly, working on a drug called solanezumab, and Elan and Johnson & Johnson, developing bapineuzumab.

The research team led by Archana Singh-Manoux from the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London found a modest decline in mental reasoning in men and women aged 45-49 years.

“We were expecting to see no decline, based on past research,” Singh-Manoux said in a telephone interview.

LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Smith & Nephew, Europe’s largest artificial hip and knee maker, is to spin off its biologics business into a new U.S.-based joint venture that will be majority owned by healthcare private equity firm Essex Woodlands.

The move provides a cash injection and long-term funding for research in the high-tech area at a time when the British company has been struggling with tough markets for its main products.

S&N said on Wednesday it would receive $98 million cash, which will be used to pay down debt, and a $160 million five-year note from the joint venture. The venture will be known as Bioventus and owned 51 percent by Essex Woodlands.

S&N, along with competitors, has been hit by low demand for hip and knee replacements as people postpone elective procedures because of concerns about job cuts.

It reported disappointing third-quarter results two months ago, and Olivier Bohuon, who became chief executive last April, said at the time that S&N needed to adapt faster to meet market challenges.

Bohuon said the biologics deal offered a solution that would benefit the company in several ways.

“In a single act, we have given our existing biologics business the resources to address longer-term development projects, retained access to the exciting area of orthobiologics, realised value for reinvestment in nearer-term opportunities, and freed up management resource to focus on driving efficiencies in established markets,” he said.