People in their 40s with larger stomachs have a higher risk for dementia when they reach their 70s, according to a study published in the March 26, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. [continue reading…]
Dementia
When it comes to a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, what you don’t know may not kill you, but knowing the truth as soon as possible appears to be the better approach — one that may improve the emotional well-being of both patients and their caregivers, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
Medical advances have made it possible to diagnose Alzheimer’s at very early stages, but a 2004 review of research found about half of all physicians were still reluctant to inform patients of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. While many physicians fear a dementia diagnosis would only further upset an already troubled patient, this follow-up study found quite the opposite.
“We undertook this study because we wanted there to be some data out there that addressed this question and that we could show to physicians and say, ‘Most of the people don’t get depressed, upset and suicidal. So, this fear that you have about telling them and disturbing them is probably not legitimate for most people,'” says Brian Carpenter, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University.
The study, published in the current Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is co-authored by Carpenter and colleagues in the Division of Biostatistics, the Department of Neurology and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University’s School of Medicine. [continue reading…]
Alzheimer Society in Ottawa asking MPs to ‘make the commitment’
Ottawa — January 30, 2008 —The Alzheimer Society of Canada is in Ottawa today, asking politicians to make the commitment to ensure dementia becomes a national health priority.The Society is making its presence felt at Parliament Hill today, helping to raise awareness about the growing dementia epidemic, and emphasizing the need to take action now.
“We are asking politicians to do two things today. First, we want them to make the commitment to improving their own brain health,” says Scott Dudgeon, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Canada (ASC). “Second, we want them to make the commitment to the thousands of their own constituents living with Alzheimer’s and related diseases, by ensuring that dementia becomes a national health priority.” [continue reading…]
