Alzheimer’s Research UK and Race Against Dementia announce £500m research pledge

Alzheimer’s Research UK and Race Against Dementia have pledged £500m to help fund research into the link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease risk.

The funding boost was announced by the charities on Clean Air Day – the UK's largest air pollution campaign – and will allow researchers at the University of Warwick to investigate the effects of certain air pollution particles that make their way into the brain.

An increasing amount of evidence is emerging around the harmful effects that air pollution has on brain health and cognitive abilities, but research is yet to uncover the mechanism behind this link.

Dr Jake Brooks, Race Against Dementia fellow at the University of Warwick, will study the properties of metal-containing pollution particles and how they interact with hallmark proteins in Alzheimer’s disease, such as tau, to inflict damage to brain cells.

The research will focus specifically on the olfactory bulb, which is an area of the brain responsible for sense of smell and one of the first brain regions to demonstrate a build-up of abnormal tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Brooks said: “It’s well known that high levels of air pollution pose a danger to our health, leading to serious lung conditions, heart disease and cancer. But now there is a growing body of evidence that suggests air pollution could also be putting us at a greater risk of developing dementia, but we don’t know how this happens.

"Thanks to this new funding, I’ll explore how tiny metal-containing pollution particles may accumulate and distribute in the brain, and how they associate with Alzheimer’s disease proteins like tau.”

There are currently around 55 million people living with dementia globally, according to Alzheimer’s Society, with this number expected to rise to 139 million by 2050.

The World Health Organization recently revised and reduced its recommended pollution exposure limits, but the majority of the global population live in areas which breach these recommendations.

It is hoped that the findings from Brooks’ research could help inform national policy measures to reduce air pollution and the resulting harm to brain health.

Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “As individuals, there is little we can do about the air we breathe, so we need government action to tackle poor air quality.

“We’re really proud that, for the first time, we’re funding a project that we believe will go far to uncover what is really happening in our brains when we are exposed to certain types of air pollution.”