Systemic inflammation in DLB and AD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Systemic inflammation in Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer's Disease
IRAS ID
161251
Contact name
Clive Holmes
Contact email
Research summary
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 (delirium). Dementia with Lewy Bodies has not been well researched but we think that the reason it may look like delirium 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.
Our research is an observational cross-sectional study examining the systemic immunological profile of 40 patients with Lewy Body Dementia, 40 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 40 control subjects who are cognitively normal. The study duration is 36 months.REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1510
Date of REC Opinion
18 Aug 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion