Alzheimer’s disease is still a mystery to people of different races and a large percentage of people across the board are unaware that treatments are available to reduce symptoms.

This is one of the surprising findings in a national survey, “Public opinion about Alzheimer’s disease among Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites,” which was analyzed by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Understanding racial and ethnic influences on knowledge and beliefs about Alzheimer’s is critical to communicating risk reduction strategies, symptom recognition, diagnosis and illness management, the paper said. [continue reading…]

Physicians may be able to detect and treat Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in its earliest stages, when patients are experiencing only mild degrees of cognitive impairment, thanks to new diagnostic criteria proposed by an international group of researchers.

Published in Lancet Neurology, the development of new guidelines was co-led by Dr. Howard Feldman, head of the Div. of Neurology in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine. [continue reading…]

Information technology needs to go beyond the latest youth-oriented web-based device and be used to assist elderly people in an ageing population, according to German IT expert Professor Dieter Rombach.

In his Sydney Ideas lecture, to be held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 11 September, Professor Rombach, executive and founding director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering, will explore cutting-edge technologies that can be used to improve the lives of the aged and prolong their independence. “People are living longer,” says Professor Rombach. “The age pyramid is changing.” [continue reading…]