Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
On September 18th 2011 I will be running the Great North Run in Newcastle to raise awareness for the Lewy Body Society as my Grandad suffers from Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). I have picked the Great North Run as he and half of my family resides in the area, and as a child I remember sitting and watching the Great North Run with him on TV so it seemed the logical choice.
Taken directly from the Lewy Body Society website (www.lewybody.co.uk) Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), also known as Lewy body disease, is the second most frequent cause of age-related neurodegenerative dementia. At least 5 percent of people aged 85 and older are thought to suffer from this little known but not uncommon and devastating disease. In the UK approximately 100,000 are thought to suffer from DLB.
There are presently over 700,000 people with dementia in the UK and this number is projected to rise to 1,000,000 by 2021 unless cures are found. There are currently about five million people with dementia in the European Union. These figures represent only patients; caregiver’s double or treble the number of people whose lives are directly affected by dementia and relations and friends increase these numbers further.
DLB shares mental symptoms, such as confusion and loss of memory, with Alzheimer's disease (but it is not the same) and motor symptoms, such as gait and slow movement, with Parkinson's disease. For that reason it is often misdiagnosed. Accurate diagnosis is essential for successful treatment of the disease: people with DLB are characteristically highly sensitive to certain drugs that can worsen unpleasant symptoms or even be fatal.
The Lewy Body Society is run by volunteers and was founded in 2006 in order to support research into DLB to raise awareness and educate the public, the medical profession and those in health-care decision-making positions about the disease. The first LBS funded research began in 2007 with a PhD studentship at Newcastle University.
It is very sad to see someone you love suffer from such a terrible disease of which there is no cure and with that I ask you to support me in my quest to raise awareness of DLB and sponsor me as every little will help.
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So please dig deep and donate now.
Thank you,
Alex.
