Most of us know somebody who has been affected by dementia. For me it was my Grandma Aileen - a vivacious and strong-willed character who passed away a few years ago from Alzheimer's. She had always been forgetful - calling us by the wrong names and never remembering to get the peas from the microwave for the Sunday dinner. At first it was amusing and we would joke about it. But later, when she began to mistake me for my mum, it stopped being funny.

Research is showing that warning signs of dementia could be in our brains decades before symptoms appear, in mid-life (which I am rapidly approaching, if not maybe even there?). This means we could have an opportunity to prevent it. The CDP is doing fantastic work to investigate this, as well as investing in world-leading drug trials in the hope of a future without dementia. 

We're running the Edinburgh Marathon as a relay team to raise funds for this very worthy cause. Any donations would be extremely welcome. To give you an idea of where your cash could go...

* £25 – genetic analysis for a research participant to check whether they carry the APOE4 gene, associated with an increased risk of dementia

* £100 – a full cognitive examination to assess the brain function of someone taking part in the PREVENT Dementia study

* £250 – one tube of antibody to investigate changes in synapses, or cell connections, in human brain samples

* £500 – a detailed MRI scan

* £1000 – stipend for a student to work in a lab for a month in the summer to participate in dementia research