Immune system implicated in dementia development

The immune system and body's response to damaged cells play a key role in the development of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), finds new UCL-led research. These findings will enable researchers to develop new treatments that target the body's response to damaged cells. FTD is the second most common form of young-onset dementia after Alzheimer's disease. The disease is caused when nerve cells in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain die and the pathways connecting them change. In the majority of cases, the disease is not inherited. Professor John Hardy of the NIHR Queen Square Dementia Biomedical Research Unit, who co-led the study, said: "We are trying to understand what causes or predisposes people to the non-inherited form of FTD. Even though the disease is sporadic (not inherited), there are genetic pre-dispositions.