Donate Online Now
Other ways to give
Defeat Dementia in Down's Syndrome
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
It is now well established that people with Down's syndrome (DS) are at risk, relatively early in life, for developing dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD). By the time people with DS are in their fifties, approximately 50% will be experiencing a progressive decline in their abilities that is characteristic of dementia.
Working in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, the DSA is looking to support a large project which could potentially generate sufficient information to confront and attack the issue of dementia in people with DS, as never seen before. The project will be split into three studies:
- Using a new brain scanning technique to investigate amyloid in a total of 60 people with DS, some with and without dementia. This will enable a more detailed investigation into the relationship between amyloid in the brain, evidence of brain cell death, and the presence or not of the clinical features of dementia.
-
Work at the Institute of Ophthalmology has shown that the eye can provide a safe and novel route for investigating cell death that could reflect what may be happening in the brain when people develop AD. Cataracts which also contain amyloid are common in later life in people with DS, and will be studied to look at any potential important insights.
-
Cells obtained by skin biopsy from people with DS can be changed to resemble brain cells (neurons) and the production of amyloid by these cells can then be studied.
The future
These studies taken together will provide evidence as to the role of amyloid in causing AD in people with DS. At the same time there is considerable research developing medications and vaccines which act directly on amyloid to prevent its deposition in the brain. This programme of research will provide the evidence as to whether such treatment is appropriate for people with DS and whether it should be tried in a formal trial in order to prevent the serious decline that is characteristic of the development of AD in people with DS in later life.
The potential to produce a treatment to defeat dementia in Down's syndrome is a reality. Please help us to help future generations of people with DS by making a donation towards the £1 million budget we are looking to cover.
If you haven't done so already and wish to donate to the appeal, please click the donate now button below and be sure to write 'Defeat Dementia' in the Comments Box so we can ensure your money goes directly to the Appeal.