Lifestyle coaching could help to slow cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study which found that a coaching regime that included computerised brain exercises could provide more cognitive benefit than Alzheimer’s drugs. Published online in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, research by the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle…
Retired university professor Rex Last is offering a free download of his book “The informal Dementia Carer – who cares?” which is described as a “hard-hitting defence” of the informal carer. Professor Last’s wife, who died in July, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s which developed into dementia. He says the book is a plea from a…
For the first time NHS England has released data revealing that 34,412 people in England have been diagnosed with young onset dementia (YOD). But the NHS estimates that an additional 19,194 people in this age group may be undiagnosed, putting the potential total population of people with YOD at 53,606. “Until now, NHS England didn’t…
It has been a “turbulent year” for health and social care, says the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its annual assessment of the state of care in England. The “State of Care” report for 2023 says care is “gridlocked” as the cost-of-living crisis bites harder and workforce pressures have escalated. Adult social care providers continue…
UCL and Tower Hamlets memory clinic psychiatrist Dr Nick Bass will lead Young Dementia Network’s November webinar. He and Jana Mikova, clinical nurse specialist in genomic medicine, will explain the North Thames Genomic Medicine Service Alliance transformation project to embed genomic investigation in mental health service-provided memory clinics. They will go on to discuss implications…
As diagnosis rates continue to languish below government targets, a new parliamentary report shows that where you live has a massive impact on whether you get a timely diagnosis of dementia. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Dementia has published “Raising the Barriers: An Action Plan to Tackle Regional Variation in Dementia Diagnosis in England,”…
Research from UCL, just published in PLOS One, looked at modifiable dementia risk factors by ethnic group, found that hypertension conferred a higher risk of dementia in black people compared to white people, while a combination of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, low HDL cholesterol and sleep disorders conferred a higher risk on South Asian people. Compared…
Average length of stay in a care home has decreased to around 13 months, compared with 1.8 years before the pandemic and 2.2 years in 2011, according to figures quoted by the Downing investment company. The company states that the sector is changing because the needs of those moving into care are increasingly acute. Mark…
Many GPs believe that assistive technologies could bring substantial benefits to their patients with dementia, particularly devices like an intuitive app to help them navigate their community, gadgets reminding them to take medications, and smart glasses to tell them who they are looking at. According to an Alzheimer’s Society survey, 76% of GPs worry that…
Up to 73% of dementia cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes, a new study of 344,000 people over 15 years suggests. Researchers behind the study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, investigated 210 modifiable risk factors and found that personal measures such as increasing physical strength, more leisure and social activities, more time…