Running in Memory of Dad

I am running for The Lewy Body Society and in memory of my Dad who died in January this year and was a sufferer of this terrible illness.

Our aim is to promote awareness of DLB amongst the general public and the medical profession.

Dementia is not an illness that effects only old people as more and more people are being diagnosed at a much early age, in their late 40s and early 50s.

Thank you for your donation on behalf of myself , the society and all the suffers of this cruel illness your sponsorship will be used to promote awareness of DLB. 

There are presently approximately 870,000 people with dementia in the UK and this is expected to rise to 1.8 million by the year 2050 unless cures are found. There are currently approximately 5 million people with dementia in the European Union. These figures represent only patients; caregivers 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 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 which can worsen unpleasant symptoms or even be fatal.

DLB was virtually unknown until a decade ago. Due in large part to a close collaboration between researchers in the UK, Japan and the USA, it is now recognised as a distinct medical condition and not a variant of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases.

The Lewy Body Society was founded in 2006 in order to support research into DLB and 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.