A fresh approach to tackling Alzheimer's disease is being investigated in clinical trials in Australia.
Experts say for a long time the immune system's role in causing brain diseases such as dementia has been overlooked.
"People used to think that the brain was immune privileged and it really is not," Professor Malu Tansey, a neuroscience expert at the University of Florida, said.
"As we age that immune system becomes a little tired and it does not protect the nerve cells in the brain as well."
Professor Tansey gave a keynote address at the Alzheimer's Association international conference in Sydney this week.
She spoke about chronic inflammation and its role in dementia.
Professor Tansey is the co-inventor of a new compound that is being trialled on Alzheimer's patients in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
The drug, called XPro1595, is designed to decrease neuroinflammation and enrolment will be limited to Alzheimer's patients with evidence of peripheral inflammation.
A key element of the small study is to identify patients that are most likely to benefit from the treatment.
The trial is being funded through a $1 million grant from the Alzheimer's Association 'Part the Cloud program'.
The Chicago-based organisation says it's important to look at new ways of tackling the disease.
"What we're talking about here is how we can develop different strategies that are not just focused on plaques and tangles, strategies like inflammation," said Dr Maria Carrillo, Alzheimer's Association's Chief Science Officer.
"So we're excited about being able to talk about these diverse targets," she said.
ABS figures released this week revealed dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, remained the second leading cause of death in Australia.
Deaths due to dementia have increased by more than 68 per cent since 2009.
KaRa MINDS in Sydney is one of the five sites in Australia that is recruiting patients.