Name of Fellow


Jay Amin

Institution


Funder


Alzheimer's Research UK

Contact information of fellow


Country


United Kingdom

Title of project/programme


Systemic and central inflammation in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Source of funding information


Alzheimer's Research UK

Total sum awarded (Euro)


€ 213,317

Start date of award


06/08/14

Total duration of award in years


3.0

The project/programme is most relevant to:


Alzheimer's disease & other dementias

Keywords


Immunity and Inflammation | Innate Immunity

Research Abstract


Dementia with Lewy Bodies accounts for up to one quarter of all cases of dementia in the elderly. It has many similarities to Alzheimer’s Disease but patients with the disease often have disturbing hallucinations and a variable memory state. These symptoms make it very hard to diagnose and to tell apart from the confusion that some elderly people get when they have an infection. Dementia with Lewy Bodies has not been well researched but we think that the reason it may look like delirum is that the condition is actually caused (or at least made a lot worse) by an overactive immune system in the blood and the brain that makes it look like an infection is taking place. We want to see if this is the case and if we can prove it we will be in a much better position to develop new treatments, based on existing drugs that can dampen down the immune response. We also think that our research will allow us to develop a blood test for the disease that means that Doctors can diagnose the condition early without the need for costly brain scanning.

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