Increase in Alzheimer's funding for Scottish scientists

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University of Edinburgh

Scottish researchers have received funding to explore what could be a new way to treat Alzheimer's disease.

The team at the Dementia Research Institute of the United Kingdom at the University of Edinburgh has received £ 160,000 from Alzheimer's Research UK.

They want to use the funds to investigate nerve damage caused by Alzheimer's disease, which causes the symptoms of dementia.

More than 70,000 Scots live with dementia. Alzheimer's disease is responsible for two-thirds of cases.

What are they looking for?

Their research will focus on the microscopic connection points between nerve cells in the brain.

They are essential for reflection, learning and memory. The damage causes the symptoms of dementia.

Scientists in Edinburgh have discovered that a protein in connection points increases when people contract the disease.

They will investigate whether targeting this protein with drugs could help limit the damage.

They will use stem cell techniques to grow nerve cells in the laboratory to study connection points in detail.

"Significant difference"

Tara Spiers-Jones, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, said: "This new funding will allow my team to see if reducing the levels of our target protein could help slow or stop the loss of neuronal connections in Alzheimer's disease.

"The approaches we test in lab cells could form the basis for finding new drugs that could have a significant impact on the lives of people with Alzheimer's disease."

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Speaking about new funding, Dr. Laura Phipps, of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "These scientists from the University of Edinburgh are making breakthrough progress towards breakthroughs for people with dementia.

"By innovating new approaches to fight Alzheimer's disease, researchers like Professor Spires-Jones are offering new hope to meet our biggest medical challenge."