The foundation:
News

A study by Fundació ACE gives an alert about the fact that 30% of people suffering from some types of dementia do not receive the needed care or have any supervision during their daily activities.

The results of the research, conducted on the basis of 5,800 patients with dementia, also find that 38% of these sick people without any caregiver (it means, 650 of the study population) also live alone.

The presentation of the findings of the study on the social situation of people with Alzheimer's and other dementias during the Workshop Mediterranean Alzheimer Alliance, a meeting of neuroscientists held coinciding with the X Barcelona-Pittsburgh Biennial Conference and the twentieth edition of the Annual Meeting the SCN, between 25 and 27 May in Barcelona has gathered more than 400 experts in neurology and dementia.

According to Dr. Pilar Cañabate, director of the study and head of social department of the Fundació ACE, "the lack of care for patients with dementia is due to widespread misinformation about Alzheimer's." Cañabate added that "most of the population is very difficult to identify the disease because they confuse cognitive impairment with the natural aging process and age."

For the director of the study, "the lack of knowledge about dementia causes risk situations among the sick and their immediate environment, such as family".

Consequently, Pilar Cañabate calls for "strengthening information and training actions on Alzheimer's and other dementias for relatives of patients and society in general." According to the director of Fundació ACE study, "we must provide the keys to identify Alzheimer's symptoms and thus reduce risk situations for the patient and for the whole community."

Some data from the study are indicative of the risks of not having the support of a caregiver. In this sense, it shows that 37.7% of patients with dementia higher order make decisions regarding their health and their future risking his life and that of others.

It should be noted that 6.6% (322 people) of the 5,792 patients whose dementia was detected, continue driving. Suffer dementia and mild stage, involves having altered cognitive functions and while the mechanics of driving, in principle, does not have to be altered, the ability to react to unforeseen events, coordination of movements or thought are slowed. That is, if they face a small incident, heavy braking, for example, the affected person would be able to solve not immediately putting their safety and that of other drivers. In addition, if you have the back of the altered brain will struggle to interpret the space and distances; will not reduce the speed while at a stoplight, will approach too close to other vehicles, etc.

New in the X edition of the Biennial Conference Barcelona- Pittsburgh

The tenth edition of the Barcelona-Pittsburgh Conference has presented a new and attractive program, thanks to the participation of more than 60 experts in the fields of neurology (clinical and research), genetics, geriatrics, psychiatry, neuropsychology and biology.

The Fundació ACE started 20 years ago the Barcelona-Pittsburgh Conference with the aim of bringing together experts in neurology to pool their knowledge and discuss innovative ideas with unvaluable scientific strength.