Multicultural assessment tool available online

RUDAS: Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale Guide to Administration and Scoring is available in DVD format and online.

RUDAS DVD Guide to Administration and Scoring is also accompanied by a CD containing the Administration and Scoring Guide booklet, Scoring Sheet and RUDAS Report and Journal Article Abstracts

Visit the RUDAS website for further information.

The project has been a joint partnership with Syndey South West Area Health Service and Alzheimer's Australia National Cross Cultural Dementia Network

New dementia education resource for Indigenous people

“Looking out for Dementia”: Indigenous Educational Resources
A New educational resource designed to inform Indigenous people in the NT about dementia, now available for purchase. The suite of resources which includes a DVD in English and three Indigenous languages, flipchart and poster describes what dementia is, how to help someone with dementia, and simple strategies to minimise the risk of developing dementia.

The resources can be purchased as a set for $80.00 from Alzheimer’s Australia NT plus postage and handling.

To order the resources please complete the order form available from Alzheimer's Australia NT website or for further information please contact Catherine Zlatnik at Alzheimer’s Australia NT on (08) 89485228.

Further information:
The Indigenous Dementia Resources project was proposed after our staff identified a lack of appropriate dementia resources to inform Indigenous people living in remote communities of the NT. Funding from the Northern Territory and Australian Governments enabled Alzheimer’s Australia NT in partnership with the NT Dementia Behaviour Management Service to develop a suite of themed resources – a DVD in four languages (Djambarruyngu, Warlpiri and Kriol), flipchart and poster – to describe what dementia is, how to help someone with dementia, and simple strategies to minimise the risk of developing dementia. This educational tool was launched in Darwin and Alice Springs during Dementia Awareness Week 2009 and is now available for purchase through Alzheimer's Australia NT.

When caregivers find new companions, is it adultery?

Of love and Alzheimer's
The Wall Street Journal: 3 November 2009
Sid, 70 has been married for more than 40 years to his wife who has dementia. What are the issues around Sid having another companion for 4 days of the week? > read story

Medication erros in hospital

Take your medicines with you to hospital
DPS Guide News: 3 November 2009

Patients who are taken to hospital emergency departments by ambulance are less likely to suffer from medication errors if their own medicines are transported with them in the ambulance, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia. … > full story

Cultural Care Tool Kit reprinted

The Care Tool Kit by Elder Rights Advocacy has been reprinted and is available to purchase.

The communities covered:

Aboriginal, Anglo-Australian, Arabic, Bosnian, Cambodian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indian, Italian, Jewish, Latvian, Maltese, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish-speaking, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese,

Each community section contains information about:

• History of migration
• Role of family in caring for the elderly
• Traditions and special days
• Food and diet
• Attitudes to residential care, sickness, hospitals and pain
• Language including phrases relevant to care
• Religion
• Death and burial rites
• Internet links

Warning signs of dementia

10 warning signs of Alzheimer's
Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Blog: 31 October 2009
Know the difference between the warning signs of Alzheimer's and typical age-related behavior. > read more

Also see Alzheimer’s Australia’s:

• Worried About Your Memory. This brochure is available in various languages.
• Warning Signs
  

How much exercise do older people need?

Use it or lose your retirement dreams
ABC Health & Wellbeing: 29 October 2009

Staying active into your 70s, 80s and even 90s, is not only possible but vital to optimising quality of life, a growing body of evidence shows. … > full story

Questions on benefit of memantine (Ebixa)

Benefit of memantine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease not proven
Quality and Efficiency in Health Care: 28 October 2009
There is no scientific proof that patients with moderate or severe Alzheimer's disease benefit from drugs containing the agent memantine. This is the conclusion in the final report that the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published in September 2009. The report is part of a broader commission awarded by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) to assess both drug and non-drug therapy options for Alzheimer's disease. In addition to cholinesterase inhibitors, Ginkgo biloba and non-drug therapy alternatives. A second press release in which all the results are synthesized can be viewed here.. .. > full press release

Pneumonia and influenza hospitalizations in elderly people with dementia

Older patients with dementia at increased risk for flu mortality
Tufts University: 27 October 2009
An epidemiological study, on pneumonia and influenza (P&I) in adults age 65 and over reports that patients with dementia are diagnosed with flu less frequently, have shorter hospital stays, and have a fifty percent higher rate of death than those without dementia. The three-pronged study, which analyzed geographic and demographic patterns of P&I and the relationship between P&I and health care accessibility, was published online in advance of print in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

"The increased mortality of older patients with dementia hospitalized for flu may be indicative of inadequacies in health care quality and accessibility. It could be beneficial to refine guidelines for the immunization, testing, and treatment of flu in older patients with dementia when planning for the possibility of a flu pandemic," said first and senior author Elena Naumova, PhD, professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. … > full press release

Diabetes is associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease

Does diabetes speed up memory loss in Alzheimer's disease?
American Academy of Neurology: 27 October 2009
Research has shown that diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease and the risk of memory loss in people who don't have Alzheimer's disease. But it hasn't been clear whether people with Alzheimer's disease and diabetes have more rapid memory loss than those who have Alzheimer's disease but no diabetes.

New research published in the October 27, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that those with both diseases actually have a slower rate of memory loss than people who had only Alzheimer's disease. … > full press release

Epilepsy drug holds promise

Epilepsy drug could treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
EurekAlert!: 27 October 2009
Researchers in the USA have discovered a potential new function for anti-epileptic drugs in treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Neurodegeneration, found that neurons in the brain were protected after treatment with T-type calcium-channel blockers, which are commonly used to treat epilepsy. … > full press release : comment from Alzheimer’s Society

Interview with author of Alzheimer’s Love

Alzheimer’s a love story
ABC Radio National: 28 November 2009
Alzheimer’s Love by Vivienne Ulman is a family portrait, an account of the great love affair between her parents, and an honest insight into the strains and strengths of family relations under the cloud of Alzheimer's. > listen to interview

Vision symptoms illuminate early Alzheimer’s variant

Is it a visual problem or Alzheimer’s? New data helps doctors make the diagnosis
American Academy of Opthalmology: 25 October 2009
Sometimes when a patient tells his ophthalmologist that he "can’t see," what he really means is "I can see, but I can no longer read or write." In a minority of Alzheimer’s patients the disease shows up first as problems with vision rather than memory or other cognitive functions. But diagnosis can be difficult because standard eye exams are often inconclusive for these patients. Neuro-ophthalmologists Pierre-Francois Kaeser, MD, and Francois-Xavier Borruat, MD, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Switzerland, examined and followed 10 patients with unexplained vision loss who were ultimately diagnosed with the visual variant of Alzheimer’s disease (VVAD). Their study describes clinical clues that may improve ophthalmologists’ ability to detect VVAD and refer patients for further tests. When patients receive neurological assessment, treatment and family counseling early in the disease, outcomes may be better for all concerned. … > full press release : review by MedPage Today

Call for research into possible links between sports related head injuries and dementia

You can't swap your head, says Dempsey
Sydney Morning Herald: 23 October 2009
Player associations in Australia are agitating for more research into the possible links between head injuries and early onset dementia.

A concerned Rugby Union Players' Association chief executive, Tony Dempsey, says recurrent players have been surveyed about their experiences with head injuries. … > full story

Related information:

• Read past Alzheimer’s News stories on this topic

• Read and listen to ABC World Today interview on this topic (29 October 2009)

• Read and listen to ABC AM interview on this topic (29 October 2009)

Gene predicts risk for Alzheimer’s disease symptoms after traumatic brain injury

Genetic screening tool may determine individual risk of developing amyloid plaques after brain trauma
Penn Medicine: 22 October 2009
The presence of a gene can predict when a traumatic brain injury (TBI) will lead to early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Amyloid plaque deposits, known primarily for their role in Alzheimer’s disease, are found in nearly one third of people who die from acute TBI, within just hours of a brain injury and in people of all ages. This build up of Alzheimer’s-like deposits can be predicted by a variation in the gene that codes for the amyloid-busting enzyme, neprilsyin. … > full press release