The Times

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
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Essex
Hello Everyone.

Just letting you all know that there is an item about the flu jab and Alzheimers in today's Times.

MaNaAk
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
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Dundee
This is the link to the article. It may not open fully unless you are a subscriber. It’s reported in other online newspapers as well.

 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
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Essex
Hello again!

There is another article in the Times today with ten suggestions about how to avoid Dementia.

MaNaAk
 

kindred

Registered User
Apr 8, 2018
2,937
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Hello again!

There is another article in the Times today with ten suggestions about how to avoid Dementia.

MaNaAk
Yup, all of which my beloved late husband did, and he still got Alzheimer’s. I suppose they have to give folk things to hold on to and they will lead to a healthier life Anyway I guess.
Kindred.
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
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Essex
Same here although dad did have diabetes but he was diagnosed with this in 1987 and he controlled it so well.

MaNaAk
 

Pepp3r

Registered User
May 22, 2020
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When I see these stories I too think we did all this ! Mum had her flu jabs, she was always on the go, chatted to others during the day, did her puzzles and didn't smoke etc etc ! The things I sometimes dwell on are diet and anxiety, if anxiety turns out to raise the risk then I'm doomed !
 

Hazara8

Registered User
Apr 6, 2015
697
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So am I! We carers know more than anyone else.

MaNaAk
Despite everything there still does not seem to be any concrete evidence to support prevention of Alzheimer's disease. The possible contributory factors are often stated in both learned clinical texts and such reportage in the broadsheet papers.

My late mother was in her 90's when a diagnosis confirmed Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. She had never had one day of serious illness in her whole life. Walked greatly and was still doing household chores at 90 like she had forgotten she was actually that age. The last estimate l noted in respect of persons in the UK living with dementia, was 850,000. I am sure they cannot all be doing things wrong.
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
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Essex
It was the same with dad. Apart from diabetes type two he had never had anything serious and he was still able to do all sorts of things.

MaNaAk
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
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Essex
I should have said that it is entitled 'Curse Of Dementia Lifted For Millions Of Men As Rates Plummet'!

MaNaAk
 

Whisperer

Registered User
Mar 27, 2017
382
0
Southern England
same old problem of lies, damn lies and then statistics.

1) If you measure the percentage of Dementia cases in each five year age bracket over say 70, then yes the figure is falling. But that largely reflects the number of people actually living longer. There is a larger group of people at each age bracket to base your percentage on.
2) If you just measure the number of diagnosed and estimated undiagnosed cases it is still rising, at each of the age brackets. It is just the number of people living longer is growing faster, than the increase in the number of Dementia cases.

guess which one The Times is looking at. The fall in the number of male cases is something new to me. In truth when mum first fell ill any headline with the word Dementia in it got me reaching into my pocket. Wiser and sadder I just move on now. Like the ten wise actions to reduce your risk. No doubt statistically true, certainly will make you more healthy any way. But to say do this and you will avoid Dementia is a bit of a reach.

anyone interested I have done two courses by the University of Tasmania, both short part time courses. One of them went into the mentioned ten factors (they are not new) in considerable detail and confirmed some carried more weight than others. It also confirmed ultimately Dementia risk is based on the individual‘s circumstances. The biggest problem is timing. You need to pursue these ten points from an early part of your life to get maximum benefit. Problem is how do you get a thirty year old to buy into this program which might reduce your individual risk of getting Dementia at say 85yo. No booze, sensible diet, good exercise, build up a social network, etc. Yes but doctor I have a large mortgage, I like to socialise, I work long variable shifts, the food industry insists on mostly dealing me an unhealthy food source, you want me to go without all this to avoid something at 85yo (possibly), but a road accident or cancer could get me at say 45yo. Not the easiest of sells. Let’s face it we have all met doctors, nurses, etc, who talk a good fight about such factors, but their waist line tells a different story.........
 

Weasell

Registered User
Oct 21, 2019
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thank you so much for calling attention to the university of Tasmania.
i would recommend it wholeheartedly, while at the same time confessing that the module that arrived to me today annoyed me off, crowing about how much is done in the UK!
The main thing I carry from the whole experience is the research on depression laying down chemicals in the brain, that then cause Dementia!
Anyone with any interest?
Sign up! It’s free! You can’t fail!
( if you did fail no one would know about it!!!!!!!)
 

Sarasa

Volunteer Host
Apr 13, 2018
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Nottinghamshire
I recommend the two courses from the University of Tasmania too. I learned a lot and it's one of those courses that makes you think.
This is a link to their website.
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
0
Essex
I have to admit that I didn't read it all because my first thought was that dad had the symptoms of dementia a year before diagnosis and I did everything possible to get him to the doctor's. At one point when he refused to go to the doctor's I wrote them a letter and they never responded so when I saw this headline I thought how many are like me struggling to get their loved to the doctor's. I also took comfort, especially from this site, knowing it was very common because it told me that I was not alone. Over the years we have been told about possible cures and some people have their hopes raised but what helped was knowing that there was help out there and I gave dad the best I could.

During one of dad's hospital stays another patient asked who cares for dad and when I said that I was the carer they made the sign of the cross and then I said that one thing Alzheimers teaches is how much you love your dad. How much you love your family and how to make memories. Dad had a healthy lifestyle he gave up smoking because of his diabetes. He had diabetes type 2 for twenty-eight years before he developed Alzheimers and he was with his diet. However old age started to catch up with and he was diagnosed with Alzheimers at 80.

MaNaAk
 

Weasell

Registered User
Oct 21, 2019
1,778
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I recommend the two courses from the University of Tasmania too. I learned a lot and it's one of those courses that makes you think.
This is a link to their website.
thank you so much for the link!


Image 1: The human hippocampus and fornix (left) compared with a seahorse (right)[6]
The fact that the hippocampus in the human brain is so called Is because that is the Latin name for seahorse, is just one bit of information You can benefit from!
There are ten questions at the end of each module of this course, and you can take the test again and again! the only way you can fail would be apathy!!!
 

Palerider

Registered User
Aug 9, 2015
4,160
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56
North West
Hello I have just read the newspaper article and thought to myself -what a load of rubbish! But as always the media are not reporting what the research has shown. Its true to say that infection and immunity may have a role in developing some forms of dementia, but this hypothesis does not account for other forms of dementia that involve different mechanisms such as vascular dementia. So the statistics that are qouted are in fact a sweeping generlisation, and thats before we get to the crux of the research in answering whether the flu jab lowers the incidence of certain types of dementia. There are some significant problems with this, because it may be that in some people dementia begins long before signs of it become apparent. In some poeple dementia develops physiologically but the person never encounters fully established dementia or behaviours, so how would this study show that the flu jab shows slowing or non progression in a younger population? I think the research may hold some answers, but not answers the media have published. What is interesting is the link between immunity and immune reponse specifically in Alzheimer's -perhaps the flu jab has some way of interfering with this complex mechanism??
 

Whisperer

Registered User
Mar 27, 2017
382
0
Southern England
Dear All

What I am about to say may upset some readers but I believe in grasping hard realities.

1) Even if the ten factors successfully eliminated all risk of Dementia it is to late for our loved ones now. In the best of all worlds they would not do so, but even in a dream perfect world it is to late for those dealing with Dementia in a loved one right now. Our concerns are different.
2) Some factors cannot be controlled by the individual no matter how well they tried. My mum has Vascular Dementia. Mum had major heart surgery in 2006 and as a result me and my siblings were offered cholesterol testing every year. My diet was good and I do not smoke or drink. All was well until 2010 when it was found my level had sky rocketed. Nothing else changed in my life style. A second test confirmed the result was not a false reading. Going through 50yo had triggered something to go wrong in my body. I was immediately put on statins and the level fell back to normal. A few years later the same happened to my brother. It must have happened to mum but nearly 40 years ago was missed as there were no such tests. She developed blood pressure and heart problems. In turn her seed of Vascular Dementia was born. The point is someone could follow the ten point plan religiously and still come unstuck. The above problem no doubt runs in other families.
3) I now treat most such articles with a huge dose of mistrust. @Palerider makes several telling points. On the Internet we have “click bait”, newspapers do false or misleading headlines. When I was young (Can I remember that far back) the Times still had the nickname of “The Thunderer”. when it spoke the ripples of interest rolled out like the sound of thunder. Best I would say now is damp squid, wet day in Skegness.
4) We could all do with some hopeful news, a better perspective on matters. Truth is unless hot air cures Dementia you will not find it in articles like this. The ten points mentioned are not even new. The claims for the flu jab are dubious as @Palerider has stated.

Research will go on but I doubt there will be any really effective cure for Dementia in my life time. By the time the symptoms show the damage is to great already. We can debate what might save future suffering, but so many factors are in play here. Showing my age here but in 1970 I saw an Horizon documentary about food colourings and additives. it pointed out many were introduced in the 1950s with virtually no testing of the potential long term effects. At the time the belief was they might be contributing to increasing cancer case numbers. What else may have gone on in the last 50years which might be contributing to Dementia starting in the human body in greater numbers? It could just be we are living longer or are there other hidden factors which only have an impact if we live longer, giving them time to fully impact on our bodies. Remove them (If they exist remembering my starting assumption that they are at present hidden) and the number of Dementia cases might be much lower even in an ageing population.. The simple answer is we just do not know with absolute certainty. Decisions made years ago may still be echoing down the years In terms of impact. We may not live to see it but science might find an answer to many Dementia cases from a source not even being considered at present. That is the sometimes random nature of scientific breakthroughs.

And no I am not a conspiracy nut. I offer the above up as one possibility. It would only take one hidden factor like that to demolish the good of these ten points for some people who followed them religiously.

Some day science will come up with a cure. Unfortunately not today, next week, next month, next year. Even if it does we will still be left holding our loved ones as they are. We are not the cure either, but collectively this forum does far more good than an article in The Times. I am glad I found it, my mum has never been on it but it has greatly improved her quality of life by helping me. Everyone who posts, either asking a question, wanting an ear, or answering a thread contributes to this vibrant community. So read the article but I would suggest point eleven should be sign up to this forum. It will not cure but it sure as hell helps.