Dementia awareness and a new research proposal about Down syndrome

It's Dementia Awareness Week in Australia, a good time to hear about a new pilot study funded by Johnson & Johnson, at the University of California, San Diego, that could lead to a much broader project.  The well established link between Alzheimer's disease and older people with Down syndrome will be used to model treatment of Alzheimer's disease both amongst people with Down syndrome and in the general population. It is thought that Alzheimer;s disease in people with Down syndrome, although more likely to occur at an earliler age, more closely resembles the biology of late-onset Alzheimer's, than other early-onset forms, and affects more people.

• News report on the pilot project
• NSW Minister for Ageing, Disbaiity and Home Care - media release about Dementia Awareness Week