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On 18 April 2010 David and Kelly will be running the Chris Hoy Edinburgh Half Marthon – that's a total of 13.1 gruelling miles!  We're now approaching the end of our training programme and, after some nasty blisters, sore legs and aching muscles, we should be ready to get the job done on the day (hopefully!).

 

We thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the culmination of our hard work by running for Alzheimer Scotland.  I will be running in memory of my grandmother who fought, and ultimately lost, a long-running battle with dementia 2 years ago; Kelly will be running for her grandmother who is currently suffering from the condition.

With people generally living longer, there is simply no greater public health issue for our generation than dementia. The number of people affected in Scotland is likely to increase by over three quarters to 60,000 in the next 20 years if current trends continue. In the UK it is thought that 700,000 people now live with dementia, with that figure ever-rising.  Recently, researchers at Alzheimer’s Disease International also published a report showing that Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will afflict 35.6 million people in 2010, about 10 percent more than previously estimated because of a higher number of cases in developing countries than doctors realized.  Furthermore, the number of dementia sufferers may almost double every 20 years to 115.4 million in 2050.

 

Yet despite this, research into the causes and treatment of dementia remains seriously underfunded. There are currently no treatments which can cure or stop the progression of most forms of dementia.  Experts have consistently expressed the opinion that research into the disease has suffered from “years of underfunding”, despite the fact that the cost of treating and caring for people with dementia is £17bn a year - more than the cost of heart disease, stroke and cancer combined.

We therefore echo the call of Alzheimer Scotland for the Scottish Government to invest £15m a year into what it previously claimed was a “national priority”, the cost of which would help local authorities and NHS boards fund early intervention to help delay the onset of dementia.  We hope to make a small but important contribution to that target by raising £500 for Alzheimer Scotland and feel that your help would be invaluable to our cause.

 

PLEASE FIND THE TIME TO MAKE ANY DONATION, BIG OR SMALL, TO THIS WORTHY CAUSE AND HELP COMBAT SUCH A DEVASTATING CONDITION.

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO GIVING YOU A POST-RACE ANALYSIS SOON!

 

David and Kelly