GENETIC FACTORS AND REGIONAL BRAIN ATROPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF DEMENTIA WITH LEWY BODIES

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/157034

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

The number of people with dementia is increasing in Australia as people live longer. Dementia sometimes has a genetic basis and identification of such cases has improved our understanding of the events leading to the destruction of the brain tissue. In the vast majority of people, the degenerative changes were previously thought to be as a result of Alzheimer's disease. However, our recent research, funded by the NHMRC, confirms international findings showing more than 25% of people with dementia have a different disease called Dementia with Lewy bodies or DLB. Of course identifying these patients occurs at death when the cells in the brain can be examined for Lewy bodies. We now know that the brain degeneration differs significantly in patients with this disease. However, it is still not possible to identify DLB in life with any certainty. This project aims to develop objective methods to clinically differentiate dementia patients. We will seek out families in which genetic influences may underly the disease and determine whether these factors differ from those found in other dementing illnesses. Also, our preliminary studies have observed volume loss in a particular brain region in pathologically confirmed DLB patients. We wish to do further measurements to determine if tissue loss in this region can clinically differentiate DLB patients. In addition, we will determine the reasons for the tissue loss by careful pathological studies.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $605,151.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical infection agents (incl. prions)

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Alzheimer's disease | Clinicopathological correlations | Dementia with Lewy bodies | Diagnostic Issues | Parkinson's disease | Patient recruitment for familial disease | Quantitative neuropathology | Tissue volume analyses

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