The big idea: why am I so forgetful?
The Guardian | Dementia
by Charan Ranganath
3d ago
A failing memory can be frustrating, but it may be a sign your brain is working exactly as it should Every day, people across the planet ask themselves this question, myself included. When we are desperately searching for our glasses, wallet or keys, we might wish to have a photo­graphic memory, but the truth is we are designed to forget. In fact, the majority of what we experience in a given day is likely to be forgotten in less than 24 hours. And that is a good thing. Think of all the passing encounters with people you will never see again, the times you spend waiting in a queue at ..read more
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Alzheimer’s ‘breakthrough’ stalls: why a much-hyped drug is facing approval delays
The Guardian | Dementia
by Melissa Davey Medical editor
3d ago
The benefits of drugs such as donanemab, aducanumab and lecanemab are proving harder to quantify than potential harms, experts say It was heralded in news articles as a “breakthrough”, a “turning point” and a “gamechanger” for Alzheimer’s disease. Some experts went so far as to call the drug, donanemab, the “beginning of the end” for the debilitating condition. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in May 2023 released data from a clinical trial they said showed donanemab slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease by 35% over 18 months ..read more
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‘The story of being a burden has been told too many times’: how dementia-friendly theatre is changing the narrative
The Guardian | Dementia
by Kate Wyver
6d ago
From specifically adapted performances to telling new stories about memory, drama groups are innovating with music, movement and wordless performance to bring the joy of theatre to everyone When my grandma was a child, she wanted to be a star. She would hide behind the kitchen door when her parents had friends over and do her best opera singer impression, hoping to be discovered. In her last years, when she was living with dementia, singing to her was one of the few guarantees of hearing her laugh, the words to the songs often still as clear as they had ever been in her mind. Music has long be ..read more
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The one question we all need to ask ourselves – and how to tune in to the answer
The Guardian | Dementia
by Moya Sarner
1w ago
Your inner voice can open up huge possibilities for change and growth, but it can be strangely hard to hear it. In the first of a new series, we look at how to really listen I often find myself thinking about the famous question that ends Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life ..read more
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Neurological conditions now leading cause of ill-health worldwide, finds study
The Guardian | Dementia
by David Batty
1w ago
Numbers living with or dying from disorders such as stroke rises dramatically to 3.4bn people – 43% of global population Neurological conditions ranging from migraine to stroke, Parkinson’s disease and dementia, are now the leading cause of ill-health worldwide, causing 11.1 million deaths in 2021, research has revealed. The number of people living with or dying from disorders of the nervous system has risen dramatically over the past three decades, with 43% of the world’s population – 3.4 billion people – affected in 2021, according to a study published in the Lancet ..read more
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Warning over use in UK of unregulated AI chatbots to create social care plans
The Guardian | Dementia
by James Tapper
2w ago
University of Oxford study shows benefits and risks of technology to healthcare, but ethical issues remain Britain’s hard-pressed carers need all the help they can get. But that should not include using unregulated AI bots, according to researchers who say the AI revolution in social care needs a hard ethical edge. A pilot study by academics at the University of Oxford found some care providers had been using generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Bard to create care plans for people receiving care ..read more
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We should all have the right to die on our own terms – current assisted-dying laws deny this to people with dementia
The Guardian | Dementia
by Elizabeth Quinn
3w ago
It’s important to ensure VAD is not abused, but life-expectancy restrictions mean many are denied the right to avoid an ignominious and drawn-out decline Voluntary assisted dying is now legal in all six states in Australia for eligible patients. While conditions vary slightly between jurisdictions, eligible patients must be acting voluntarily, have decision-making capacity and have a terminal medical illness likely to cause death within six months – or 12 months in the case of neurodegenerative conditions ..read more
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Wendy Mitchell obituary
The Guardian | Dementia
by Anna Wharton
1M ago
Writer and dementia campaigner who believed that people should have the right to choose their own death The writer-activist Wendy Mitchell, who has died aged 68, won hearts and minds by advocating for living positively with dementia. She was determined to remind people that those living with the disease are not “sufferers” and that there is “a beginning, a middle and an end to the disease – with so much life to be lived in between”. She held strong beliefs that people should have the right to choose their own death, and campaigned for assisted dying laws in Britain – one of the subjects of her ..read more
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Is the 100-year old TB vaccine a new weapon against Alzheimer’s?
The Guardian | Dementia
by David Robson
1M ago
Studies suggest the BCG jab discovered a century ago could provide a cheap and effective way of boosting the immune system to protect people from developing the condition Scientific discoveries can emerge from the strangest places. In early 1900s France, the doctor Albert Calmette and the veterinarian Camille Guérin aimed to discover how bovine tuberculosis was transmitted. To do so, they first had to find a way of cultivating the bacteria. Sliced potatoes – cooked with ox bile and glycerine – proved to be the perfect medium. As the bacteria grew, however, Calmette and Guérin were surprised to ..read more
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Assisted dying advocate and author Wendy Mitchell dies aged 68
The Guardian | Dementia
by Kevin Rawlinson and agency
1M ago
Mitchell, who had dementia, announces her death in letter published posthumously on her blog The assisted dying advocate and bestselling author Wendy Mitchell, who spent years documenting her dementia, has died, her family has said. Mitchell, 68, discussed her death in a letter published posthumously on her blog on Thursday ..read more
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