Defeat Dementia in Down's Syndrome Study

Thursday, 09 February 2012

We are conducting a study based at the Cambridge Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Group (www.CIDDRG.org.uk), in partnership with the Down’s Syndrome Association (DSA) and the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre (WIBC) Cambridge, to investigate the risk of dementia in people with Down’s syndrome (DS). This four year study is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). We believe that a chemical (protein) in the brain called beta amyloid may be a key factor in causing dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, and that people with DS may be more vulnerable to this type of dementia as they have more of this protein in their brains (the gene for the protein is on chromosome 21, which is inherited in triplicate in people with Down’s syndrome). If excess beta amyloid is found to be an important factor, then medications being developed to reduce beta amyloid deposition in the brain could possibly prevent dementia developing. This study will use new brain scanning techniques to look at the amount of beta amyloid in the brain and whether it is associated with brain changes and the symptoms of dementia.

If you have DS or know someone with DS over the age of 30, who might be interested to hear more about this study, please contact either Tiina or Liam by email on the details below. A short movie about the study is also available to watch online at: www.youtube.com/user/downsproject.

Tina: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Liam: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Telephone: 01223 746127