A significant proportion of dementia deaths in England and Wales may be due to socio-economic deprivation, new research has revealed.
Such circumstances are also associated with deaths at a younger age due to dementia, as well as poorer access to accurate diagnosis also being uncovered. The research, led by Queen Mary University of London, examined Office for National Statistics mortality data for England and Wales, and found that in 2017, 14,837 excess dementia deaths were attributable to deprivation, equating to 21.5 per cent of all dementia deaths that year. The team also found that the effect of this association appears to be increasing over time.
Having survived against the odds, Lisa Beaumont has used her experience to help shape Neuro ProActive, a new app-based rehabilitation platform. Here, in the first of a series of blogs, she shares the background to her involvement
Between zero and 60 per cent of people who have an aneurysm do not survive long enough to reach hospital alive.
I survived mine in January 2011.
I know that I survived against the odds.
April is a month when nature reminds us of new beginnings.
Criticism has again mounted around the “fundamentally flawed” concussion trials in football, after an incident where a player was allowed to continue after sustaining a head injury.
In the Sheffield United vs Leeds match at the weekend, George Baldock initially continued after being checked on the pitch by medics, but had to come off five minutes later after feeling groggy and experiencing blurred vision. Under new trial concussion protocols introduced in the Premiership, players who sustain a head injury can be replaced in a concussion substitution, which will remove them from the game permanently.
Seriously injured armed forces personnel are being helped to rebuild their lives through the work of a case management company in their support of Help for Heroes.
AJ Case Management has enabled the much-loved charity to build their own case management service, to serve the unique requirements of service men and women who are injured in action and enable them to access the healthcare they need. In addition to the in-house support they have enabled at Help for Heroes, AJ Case Management supports a number of veterans directly in securing the specialist rehabilitation package for their needs.
Two key figures in healthcare, who have played a prominent public role during the COVID-19 pandemic, have reflected on the challenges of the past year on the first anniversary of the UK’s national lockdown.
Professor Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England, and Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director and Director of Health Protection for Public Health England, took part in an event hosted by disability charity, Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People (QEF). They were joined by QEF’s Director of Operations, Rita Asamoah, who talked about how QEF has worked in partnership with the NHS to support people directly out of hospital throughout the pandemic and opened the new Care and Rehabilitation Centre despite the challenges of COVID.
New genetic clues have been found in people who have had ‘silent’ strokes, in a breakthrough which could lead to the discovery of much-needed new treatments.
Researchers discovered changes to 12 genetic regions in the DNA of people who have had a lacunar stroke – a type of stroke caused by weakening of the small blood vessels deep within the brain. Over time, damage to the blood vessels and subsequent interruption to blood flow can lead to long-term disability, causing difficulty with thinking, memory, walking and ultimately dementia.
To date, only one genetic fault has been associated with lacunar strokes, which affect around 35,000 people in the UK each year.
An app designed to support people who have acquired reading impairments or aphasia due to stroke, brain injury or dementia, has launched globally.
In its first week, iReadMore, with its unique and engaging approach to single word reading therapy, was downloaded in every continent of the world except Antarctica.
The self-led app is for individuals to use at home, which is proving especially relevant during the pandemic and ongoing lockdown restrictions around the world, with many people pursuing their own therapy options. iReadMore has been developed by researchers in the Neurotherapeutics Group at University College London, working alongside people living with aphasia, to bring to fruition a project that was started in 2007 by Dr Zoe Woodhead and Professor Richard Wise.
The largest clinical trial in Huntington’s disease, which has prompted global interest and excitement since its launch three years ago, has been discontinued.
The shock announcement was made by pharmaceutical company Roche, which announced the end of its Phase III GENERATION HD1 study of tominersen in manifest Huntington’s disease (HD).
“This is very unfortunate news to deliver on the tominersen Phase III study and we know it will be especially difficult for people with Huntington’s disease to hear,” says Dr Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer and head of global product development.
