I lost my family to dementia
- Sophie Leggett is taking part in landmark dementia trial for her daughter
- She has family history of a rare faulty gene that causes early-onset dementia
- Determined to help future generations by taking part in first international trial
- Researchers for the trial are hopeful that it could prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s by ‘finding the “statin” for the brain’
Laura Lambert Tv And Media Reporter For The Daily Mail
5
View
comments
At just 39 years old, Sophie Leggett from Lowestoft is already contemplating life in a care home because she has a family history of a rare faulty gene that causes early-onset dementia
After losing several relatives to the tragic disease, one mother has decided to take part in a landmark dementia trial to ‘fight for a different future’ for her teenage daughter.
At just 39 years old, Sophie Leggett is already contemplating life in a care home because she has a family history of a rare faulty gene that causes early-onset dementia.
Yet despite concerns about her own future, she is determined to help future generations by participating in the first international trial treating people at risk of familial dementia.
Researchers for the trial, led by Washington University, are hopeful that it could prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s by ‘finding the “statin” for the brain’.
The UK has put forward the second highest number of participants for the ambitious trial, with 17 being given a ground-breaking drug at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.
Mrs Leggett, a Slimming World consultant from Lowestoft, is not showing any symptoms at this stage but has a 50 per cent chance of holding the mutant gene.
And although she remains positive, she confessed to worrying for her 15-year-old daughter, Despina, and dreading her own 40th birthday.
She said her family background means she is likely to develop Alzheimer’s in her 40s, as her mother died from the disease in 2012 aged 57, her aunt died at 56 in 2004 and her grandfather died in his early fifties.
She recently sobbed in a restaurant with her husband, Chris, when she saw an 80th birthday party, explaining: ‘I don’t know if I will have a 50th birthday or a 60th birthday.’
The mother-of-one will feature in tonight’s BBC One documentary The Truth About Dementia, presented by 71-year-old Angela Rippon, whose mother battled the disease.
-
Dementia care staff call in police four times a day: Sharp…
They just don’t care: What really happens when we walk away…
During the programme Mrs Leggett reads an emotional letter she has written to her future carers, as a way of preserving her identity.
She said: ‘I want them to know me because the person they will see when that care is necessary will be nothing like I am.
‘I want them to know I love wearing pyjamas in the day when I can and I love all food but never give me liver.’
Although she remains positive, she worries for her 15-year-old daughter, Despina (pictured)
An extract from her letter reads: ‘When I need to be dressed by someone else I will be in my forties or maybe my fifties – let’s all remember that I’m not 80.’
In the trial, Mrs Leggett will receive doses of a drug that soaks up excessive amounts of the protein amyloid, which causes Alzheimer’s.
She will also have annual brain scans and cognitive tests.
Mrs Leggett added: ‘We are fighting for a different future for our children and everybody else that might be affected by it. We will literally do anything, it matters so much to us.’
Dr Catherine Mummery, the UK chief investigator for the trial, said: ‘We will get the results in late 2018 or 2019, and we would hope to understand then whether these drugs improve the amyloid status of the brain and stop deterioration in psychological functioning.’
Miss Rippon said she thought the idea of writing a letter before symptoms of Alzheimer’s develop was inspired and she encouraged others to do the same.
She said: ‘I am just full of admiration for Sophie and what those like her on the trial are doing. The idea of writing the letter was a very courageous thing to do but also a very practical thing to do, because she is saying “This is me”.
‘It is a great way of maintaining your identity and saying “look at me, the person, not the disease”.’
The Truth About Dementia will be shown tonight at 9pm.
Share or comment on this article
-
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau elbows female legislator
-
Hilarious moment man takes to waterslide for an epic…
-
Hilarious moment dad freaks out son with Tesla’s autopilot
-
‘I got the moves like Jagger’: Kid can’t help dancing in…
-
Cop cradles toddler abandoned by MOM after hit and run
-
Zoo keeper dies after 236-stone walrus drags him underwater
-
Trump refers to Bill Clinton’s alleged indiscretions as…
-
Gas station worker bashes man’s truck for taking too long at…
-
Moment heroic off-duty nurse battles to save builder’s life
-
Shocking moment prostitutes forced to walk naked on street
-
We HATE bath time! Adorable huskies whine in the bath tub
-
Security analyst: ‘Bomb could have been loaded on flight in…
-
Mystery of Flight MS804: EgyptAir now say NO wreckage has…
-
The trolls who take sneak photos of you through your TV and…
-
Hillary Clinton declines to defend Bill’s ‘honor’ after…
-
‘You were all trying to kill her, and she’s still alive’:…
-
Trump’s ‘rape’ attack on Bill Clinton: Republican says sex…
-
ISIS execute 25 people by DISSOLVING them in nitric acid:…
-
No electricity, no antibiotics, no beds, no soap: A…
-
Meet the ‘Belfie Queens’ earning over £20,000 a month from…
-
‘Forever in our hearts’: Woman who publicly mourned her…
-
‘So grateful I have men to advise me on gender attacks’:…
-
Black Panther, Marvel’s African hero, in the spotlight
-
Why Kate Winslet is hellbent on keeping her VERY bohemian…
Comments (5)
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Find out now