Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 419

The Department of Health has updated its strategy on dementia with a new report which has investigated dementia care, its support and research in England. Included is an interactive map detailing dementia services throughout England. To read about this report and much more access Bulletin 419.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 378

Once again Dementia is at the forefront of the news. In Bulletin No. 378 you can access the Alzheimer's Society's news statement that everyone is discussing; from national to local level. The gap between the number of people being officially diagnosed and the actual number of sufferers is wide throughout the country. Furthermore the Alzheimer's Society's Prevalence and Diagnosis map indicates vast variations throughout the country. The government has indicated that this is an unacceptable situation.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 363

Today is Worldwide Alzheimer's Awareness Day and in Bulletin No. 363  you will find links to Alzheimer's Disease International's: World Alzheimer Report 2012: Overcoming the stigma of dementia. Also the Department of Health has published its Dementia Campaign in conjunction with the Alzheimer's Society to coincide with the awareness day

Mental Health Bulletin No. 346

Mental Health Bulletin No. 346 is ready to download. Alzheimer's and Dementia research dominating this week.

Defeating Dementia?

A report Defeating Dementia is about to be presented to the House of Commons. One of the presenters and an advisor to Alzheimer's Research UK, Professor Julie Williams from Cardiff University, is backing the main thrust of the report. She reiterates that if dementia is to be tackled properly there must be adequate funding to provide the necessary scientific expertise.

Read the full article

Hope for new Alzheimer's treatments

The Alzheimer's Society have announced that their research programme could lead to new treatments for dementia in the next ten years. It is hoped the program Drug Discovery will find ways of delaying dementia and also alleviating the severity more effectively

Read the full article

Progress but no cure

Two studies describe new methods of detecting Alzheimer's disease. One, a blood test, hopes to indicate whether there is a predispostion towards dementia when older. The other, a scanning test,will allow early detection and subsequent treatment. However both studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association reiterate that they offer no more insight into a cure for Alzheimer's

Read the full article
Read the scanning test abstract
Read the blood test abstract

The worldwide cost of dementia

The economic burden of the predicted worldwide dementia "epidemic" has now been calculated in a report published by the Alzheimers Disease International (ADI). ADI is calling upon the World Health Organization (WHO) to take action now to make dementia its number one health priority. The report states that the economic costs of dementia will exceed 1% of the world's gross domestic product this year: $604bn or £388bn.

Read the full BBC article
Read the full original report

Dementia and diabetics

Researchers in Florida have found a major difference in the dementia of people who also suffer from diabetes from that of non-diabetics. The most likely cause of dementia in diabetics appears to be vascular disease of the brain whereas in non-diabetics it is a build up of plaques

Read the full article

Alzheimer's test

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can be delayed due to its symptoms being confused with those of depression. A new multi-tasking test which avoids this problem has been developed by Edinburgh researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Neurology, compared 89 people who were either healthy, suffered from Alzheimer's, or depression.

Read the full article

Read the original abstract

2009 World Alzheimer's Report

The 2009 report from Alzheimer's Disease International has been published today (World Alzheimer's Day). Researchers at King's College London prepared the report which states that globally the number of Alzheimer's and dementia sufferers will double every twenty years.

Read the article in depth
Look a the report

Two Alzheimer's genes discovered

UK Scientists have discovered two genes that are potentially key to understanding the causes of Alzheimer's Disease. It is hoped that the study of 16,000 DNA samples published in Nature Genetics will lead to new treatments. Spokespersons for the Alzheimer's Society and the Alzheimer's Research Trust have expressed positive reactions to the news.

Read the article in depth

Alzheimer's and Sunscreen

A new study is investigating whether suncreen lotions and oils play any part in the development of Alzheimer's Disease. The European Union has funded researchers at The University of Ulster to investigate whether human engineered nanoparticles found in sunscreens can induce dementias and Parkinsons. The research project has been awarded £350,000 and is likely to run for three years.

Read the full article

Dementia and the Closeness of Caregivers

Researchers from Utah State University and John Hopkins University have collaborated and conducted a study which appears to demonstrate that a close relationship between a dementia suffer and their caregiver can impede the acceleration of the disease.
The study which started in 2002 with 167 Alzheimer's sufferers will be published in the September edition of
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

Read the Medical News Today article in depth