Jesse Wilson, 8, plays a game called FaceMaze at the autism center Joseph Sheppard co-directs at the University of Victoria.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Victoria, British Columbia (CNN) — Joseph Sheppard has an IQ above 130. Ask him about his life or worldview and he’ll start drawing connections to cosmology and quantum mechanics. He’ll toss around names of great intellectuals — Nietzsche, Spinoza — as if they’re as culturally relevant as Justin Bieber.

It might not be obvious that Sheppard has a hard time with small tasks that most of us take for granted — washing dishes, sending packages, filling out online forms. Or that he finds it challenging to break out of routines, or to say something appropriate at meaningful moments.

Sheppard, 42, has high-functioning autism. He found out only about six years ago, but the diagnosis explained the odd patterns of behavior and speech that he’d struggled with throughout his life. And it gave him the impetus to reinvent himself as an autism advocate.

“I was invisible until I found my inner splendor,” he told me in one of many long, philosophical, reflective e-mails last week. “My ability to interpret and alter my throughput of judgments, feelings, memories, plans, facts, perceptions, etc., and imprint them all with what I chose to be and chose to do.

“What I choose to do is change the course of the future for persons with autism, because I believe in them and I believe, given the right support and environment, they will be a strong force in repairing the world.”

Just last week, U.S. health authorities announced that autism is more common than previously thought. About 1 in 88 children in the United States have an autism spectrum disorder, according to the report. Autism spectrum disorders are developmental conditions associated with impaired social communication and repetitive behaviors or fixated interests.

iReport: What should the world know about autism?

Diagnoses have risen 78% since 2000, partly because of greater awareness, and partly for reasons entirely unknown. Most medications don’t help, and while some find improvements with intense (and expensive) behavioral therapy, there is no cure .

Continued here:
With autism, no longer invisible

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By Catherine Lord, Special to CNN

updated 5:08 PM EDT, Sun April 1, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor’s note: Catherine Lord is the director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, a subsidiary of Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

(CNN) — This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its newest study on the rate of autism among 8-year-olds, showing that 1 in 88 has some form of the disorder. Previously, it was 1 in 110. Does the new figure indicate that we are seeing an epidemic of autism, as some have speculated?

At this point, it’s not clear.

One possibility is that we are seeing the result of better detection rather than a real surge in autism.

Catherine Lord

However, there are some striking parts about the study, which used data from 2008 collected in 14 sites across the United States. The rate of autism increased by more than 45% from 2002 to 2008 in numerous sites. It was a larger and more consistent increase than from 2002 to 2006. Also intriguing is that the increase was very uneven in terms of geography, gender, race and ethnicity.

Some sites had nearly five times as many children with autism as others. In several sites, almost 1 in 33 8-year-old boys were diagnosed with autism. This seems difficult to believe, particularly when these sites had smaller samples and children with less severe intellectual disabilities.

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Opinion: Answers to autism elusive

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An article by Ben Goertzel over at h+ Magazine discusses the Russia 2045 initiative, a program I’ve noted on a couple of occasions. A few highlights:

For 3 days in late February, Russian businessman Dmitry Itskov gathered 500+ futurists in Moscow for a “Global Future 2045 Congress” – the latest manifestation of his “Russia 2045″ movement. … The occurrence of a conference like this in Russia is no big shock, of course. Russia has a huge contingent of great scientists in multiple directly Singularity-relevant areas; and it also has an impressively long history of advanced technological thinking . My dear departed friend Valentin Turchin wrote a book with Singularitarian themes in the late 1960s, and the Russian Cosmists of the early 1900s discussed technological immortality, space colonization and other futurist themes long before they became popular in the West.

…

It’s unclear from the online conference abstracts and other Russia 2045 materials just how much actual work is going in Russia on right now, explicitly oriented toward realizing the exciting visions Itskov describes; and it’s also unclear to what extent Itskov’s “Russia 2045″ movement serves an active R&D role, versus a visionary and publicity role. It appears that most of the concrete science and engineering work at the conference was presented by scientists who had made their breakthroughs outside the context of the “Russia 2045″ project; whereas Itskov and the other Russia 2045 staff were largely oriented toward high-level visioning. But of course, Russia 2045 is a new initiative, and may potentially draw more researchers into its fold as time progresses.

…

Ray Kurzweil gave a fairly glowing report, noting “It was a well funded conference, funded by a number of major corporations in Russia….. There was significant representation from the mainstream press. The ideas were taken seriously. There were people from companies, from academe, from government…. The comparison to Humanity+ or the Singularity Summit is reasonable…. The people at the conference (about 500-600) were pretty sophisticated about all the issues you and I talk and write about.”

…

Clearly there are many smart scientists and engineers in Russia doing directly Singularity-relevant things; and Itskov’s Russia 2045 organization seems to be doing a good job of attracting public and political attention to this work. What amount of concrete work is actually going on toward Itskov’s list of grand goals is unclear to me at present, but certainly seems something to keep an eye on.

As Goertzel notes, there are the standard reasons for caution before becoming too taken by this project – but unlike the usual situation for an emerging initiative there is already a fair amount of money involved. So if we outsiders adopt a wait and see approach, matters will undoubtedly become more clear in time. Either there will be tangible progress, leading to more outreach and collaboration with the scientific community, or there will not. Either way it can be taken as a confirmation that the time is becoming right for far greater public support of longevity engineering: building longer healthy lives and attempting to reverse or effectively work around the consequences of aging.

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California’s $3 billion stem cell agency, now more than 7 years old, has joined research partnerships with science and health agencies in eight foreign countries, the San Francisco institute announced.

The agreements call for collaboration in efforts aimed at speeding stem cell research from the laboratory to the hospital, where researchers hope that basic human cells will be programmed to treat scores of human degenerative diseases.

Research partnerships between American and foreign stem cell scientists are encouraged, but the California institute’s funds would only be spent within the state, institute officials said.

Alan Trounson, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, signed agreements with stem cell funding agencies in Brazil and Argentina last week, he said Thursday.

“Both Brazil and Argentina have strong and robust stem cell research communities in basic science and transitional clinical science, which should create exciting synergies with many scientists in California,” Trounson said in a statement.

He has signed similar pacts with stem cell agencies in Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Australia, Japan, China and Indiana.

The California institute was created in 2004 after Proposition 71, a $3 billion bond issue, was approved by California voters at a time when use of federal funds was barred for research into the promising field of embryonic stem cells.

So far the state agency has committed $1.2 billion to scientists and training centers at 56 California institutions, and the rest of the bond money should last until 2020, a spokesman said.

This article appeared on page C – 9 of the SanFranciscoChronicle

See the article here:
Stem cell institute to work with foreign agencies

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By Catherine Lord, Special to CNN

updated 5:08 PM EDT, Sun April 1, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor’s note: Catherine Lord is the director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, a subsidiary of Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

(CNN) — This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its newest study on the rate of autism among 8-year-olds, showing that 1 in 88 has some form of the disorder. Previously, it was 1 in 110. Does the new figure indicate that we are seeing an epidemic of autism, as some have speculated?

At this point, it’s not clear.

One possibility is that we are seeing the result of better detection rather than a real surge in autism.

Catherine Lord

However, there are some striking parts about the study, which used data from 2008 collected in 14 sites across the United States. The rate of autism increased by more than 45% from 2002 to 2008 in numerous sites. It was a larger and more consistent increase than from 2002 to 2006. Also intriguing is that the increase was very uneven in terms of geography, gender, race and ethnicity.

Some sites had nearly five times as many children with autism as others. In several sites, almost 1 in 33 8-year-old boys were diagnosed with autism. This seems difficult to believe, particularly when these sites had smaller samples and children with less severe intellectual disabilities.

See more here:
Searching for the why behind rising autism rate

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Via EurekAlert!: researchers have “explained how rapamycin, a drug that extends mouse lifespan, also causes insulin resistance. The researchers showed in an animal model that they could, in principle, separate the effects, which depend on inhibiting two protein complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, respectively. The study suggests that molecules that specifically inhibit mTORC1 may combat age-related diseases without the insulin-resistance side effect. … The mTOR complexes, for mammalian (or mechanistic) target of rapamycin, are proteins that regulate cell growth, movement, and survival, as well as protein synthesis and transcription. Specifically, there are two mTOR complexes and one mTOR protein. The mTOR protein is the core of both complexes (mTORC1 and mTORC2), which behave differently based on their associated proteins. One or both of the mTOR complexes can be inappropriately activated in certain cancers, and dual-specific inhibitors are being developed as chemotherapeutic agents. Several theories have been put forward by researchers to explain the observations that patients receiving rapamycin are more prone to developing glucose intolerance, which can lead to diabetes. Chronic treatment with rapamycin impairs glucose metabolism and the correct functioning of insulin in mice, despite extending lifespan. The research team demonstrated that rapamycin disrupts mTORC2 in the mice, and that mTORC2 is required for the insulin-mediated suppression of glucose metabolism in the liver. On the other hand, they also demonstrated that decreasing mTORC1 signaling was sufficient to extend lifespan independently from changes in glucose metabolism. They used a mouse strain in which mTORC1 activity was decreased and saw that lifespan was extended by 14 percent, yet the animals had normal glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.”

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/uops-dol032612.php

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An Australian program featuring researchers Aubrey de Grey and David Sinclair: “It feels like science fiction, but it’s actually true. And we’re really at the cutting edge, it’s a really exciting time in the field right now. … There’s no such thing as ageing gracefully. I don’t meet people who want to get Alzheimer’s disease, or who want to get cancer or arthritis or any of the other things that afflict the elderly. Ageing is bad for you, and we better just actually accept that. As far as I’m concerned, ageing is humanity’s worst problem, by some serious distance. … Now if you think that’s an overstatement, consider this: world-wide, a hundred and fifty thousand people die each day, two-thirds of them from ageing. That means potentially one hundred thousand people could be saved every day with therapies that combat ageing. … Ageing is simply and clearly, the accumulation of damage in the body. That’s all that ageing is. What it’s going to take is development of thoroughly comprehensive regenerative medicine for ageing. That means medicine which can repair the molecular and cellular damage that accumulates in our bodies throughout life, as side effects of our normal metabolic processes. … We do not know what humanity of the future is going to want to do. If thirty or fifty years from now people don’t have the problems that we thought they might have, but we didn’t develop those therapies, so those people have to die anyway, after a long period of decrepitude and disease, then they’re not going to be terribly happy are they? That’s why we have a moral obligation to develop these technologies as soon as possible.”

Link: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3465499.htm

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Yet another study showing a correlation between chronic inflammation and abdominal fat: “Obesity-related increases in multiple inflammatory markers may contribute to the persistent subclinical inflammation common with advancing age. … We used factor analysis to identify inflammatory factor(s) and examine their associations with adiposity in older adults at risk for disability. … [Inflammatory markers] were measured in 179 participants from the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Pilot (Mean ± SD age 77 ± 4 years, 76% white, 70% women). Body mass index, waist circumference, and total fat mass were assessed by anthropometry and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. … Greater total and abdominal adiposity are associated with higher levels of an inflammatory factor related to CRP, IL-1ra, and IL-6 in older adults, which may provide a clinically useful measure of inflammation in this population. … [The associations were determined] after adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, site, smoking, anti-inflammatory medications, comorbidity index, health-related quality of life, and physical function. These associations remained significant after further adjustment for grip strength, but only waist circumference remained associated with inflammation after adjusting for total lean mass.” Waist circumference is a better correlation with the amount of visceral fat packed around the organs in comparison to body mass index.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22451470

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There’s a range of research to indicate that gut bacteria are important in the relationship between metabolism and aging, though the situation in higher animals is probably far more complex than in nematode worms: “A powerful approach to understanding complex processes such as aging is to use model organisms amenable to genetic manipulation, and to seek relevant phenotypes to measure. Caenorhabditis elegans is particularly suited to studies of aging, since numerous single-gene mutations have been identified that affect its lifespan; it possesses an innate immune system employing evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways affecting longevity. As worms age, bacteria accumulate in the intestinal tract. However, quantitative relationships between worm genotype, lifespan, and intestinal lumen bacterial load have not been examined. We hypothesized that gut immunity is less efficient in older animals, leading to enhanced bacterial accumulation, reducing longevity. To address this question, we evaluated the ability of worms to control bacterial accumulation as a functional marker of intestinal immunity. … We show that as adult worms age, several C. elegans genotypes show diminished capacity to control intestinal bacterial accumulation. We provide evidence that intestinal bacterial load, regulated by gut immunity, is an important causative factor of lifespan determination; the effects are specified by bacterial strain, worm genotype, and biologic age, all acting in concert. … In total, these studies focus attention on the worm intestine as a locus that influences longevity in the presence of an accumulating bacterial population. Further studies defining the interplay between bacterial species and host immunity in C. elegans may provide insights into the general mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases.”

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22452899

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Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) such as glucosepane are what you might think of as a sort of biological rust. They build up as an undesirable side-product of the chemistry of life and damage important molecular machinery in and around cells by sticking to molecules or sticking molecules together, making it impossible for them to do their jobs. The increase in AGE levels in the body with advancing age isn’t a matter of straight accumulation over time – it’s more dynamic than that, and the level of AGEs in the diet may play some role – but eventually it becomes enough to cause serious harm. Aging is little more than damage, and AGEs are one form of that damage.

The SENS Foundation is currently sponsoring research into therapies to break down glucosepane, what is probably the most important AGE in humans. I see that the UK-based research group has a few web pages devoted to their work, on one of which is offered some explanation as to why the drug industry isn’t all that much help when it comes to building ways to tackle AGEs:

There are two difficulties with creating AGE-breaker drugs. Firstly, AGEs are chemical targets, not genes or proteins. Almost all of pharmaceutical research over the last 40 years has been orientated to finding drugs that interact with proteins, and with the genes that make those proteins. So we cannot call on the trillions of dollars of research and technology development that have created the modern drug industry to help us (very much – we can use some of it). Secondly, AGEs are pretty stable and tough. That is inevitable – they are in essence the physiological equivalent of the black stuff on the bottom of your baking tin – what is left after years of use and the dishwasher. (In the case of humans, ‘the dishwasher’ is an array of mechanisms that take care of nearly all the waste products of metabolism.) We know how to break them quite easily, but only using a process that would also dissolve every protein in your body. The trick is finding a way to cleave them and leave all the rest of you intact.

Here is a recently posted video from last year’s SENS5 conference in which one of the research groups focused on AGEs discusses their work:

Advanced glycation end-products are a class of natural products that form non-enzymatically on exposed protein residues in the human body. AGEs accumulate as a result of normal metabolism and aging, and significant elevations in these molecules have also been observed in the plasma of patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and others. Our laboratory is taking an orthodox approach to studying these materials; we have initiated a synthetic program to prepare AGE- adducts on large scale and in chemically homogenous form. This talk will describe ongoing efforts along these lines, with a particular focus on exploring a class of arginine-derived AGEs. Chemical and biological insight arising from these studies will also be discussed. It is our hope that this small molecule-based strategy will serve to shed new light on the role of AGEs in both healthy and disease physiology.

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Saturday marks World Health Day celebrating 64 years of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO is part of the United Nations and is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters as human health concerns really dont have "borders."

The theme this year is on the health of an aging population. Baby boomers are getting older, as is the general lifespan of humans.

Eighty percent of the population live past the age of 60, and 50 percent live more than 80 years of age, according to Dr. Enrique Vega Garcia, regional advisor, Health Aging, Pan American Health Organization/WHO.

There are many reasons for this increase, but despite our longevity, the number of chronic diseases one may live with during the golden years is also on the rise.

Disability Rates Increase With Age The WHO Report for 2012 states that older people experience higher rates of disability that reflects an accumulation of health risks throughout their life course. Ten out of 15 causes of death in adults aged 60 years or older are ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, stomach cancers, colon/rectal cancers, nephritis and renal disease, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, and breast cancer. Arguably, all are influenced by dietary intake, smoking and physical activity.

WHO Suggests a Life-Course Approach The WHO knows there is no magic bullet or quick-fix solution. Instead they recommend four sound pillars for all nations to work towards:

* Promoting good health and healthy behaviors at all ages to prevent or delay the development of chronic disease. It may sound like a broken record eat better, dont smoke, limit alcohol, increase physical activity and refrain from risky behavior. This is not limited to the US but across the globe.

* Minimizing the consequences of chronic disease through early detection and quality care (primary, long-term and palliative care). Early detection saves lives, but the effects of cardiovascular disease has repercussions throughout the body. It is not enough to wait for a diagnosis to make change, but recognizing the cumulative impact of lifestyle habits and behaviors is important. Its never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.

* Creating physical and social environments that foster the health and participation of older people. Seniors need to live in safe communities where they can go out and be social with people of all ages and be able to remain physically active and engaged. Access to public transportation and intergenerational links can prevent isolation.

Read the original:
Good health adds life to years

On April 2, the Olean Times Herald published a column by Jay Ambrose, in which he writes, in reference to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, "The enactment of this law was based on misconceptions about inferior health care and terribly low longevity that turns out to be the highest in the world when one subtracts deaths due to homicide and accidents.

How's that? Our problems with homicide and accidents somehow explain away our embarrassing health care statistics, and thereby obviate the need for health care reform?

Mr. Ambrose offers no source or reference for his claims, nor does he address why death by homicide or accident is less concerning than death from inadequate health care. He is an illusionist using misdirection to distract us from unpleasant realities.

Sources as varied as the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the CIA (yes, the Central Intelligence Agency) list statistics that very much support the assertion that we have inferior health care and that we do indeed die earlier than people in many other countries.

Let us start with the CIA, an agency that describes itself as being responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior U.S. policymakers. This quote and the data that follow are taken from their World Fact Book, accessed online at the CIA web site. Their tables rank some metrics best to worst and others as worst to best. I have converted those below to best to worst, i.e. where we rank compared to the best in the world.

The CIA ranks the U.S. 51st best in maternal mortality (121st of 172 countries listed worst to best). Maternal mortality reports deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth, and excludes accidents and homicide. Per 100,000 births, for every one woman who dies as a result of pregnancy and childbirth in countries like Italy or Greece, five to 10 women die in the U.S.

How about infant mortality? This measures deaths in the first year of life, from all causes, of babies who were born alive. This does include homicide and accidents. The CIA ranks us 48th best (174 out of 222 listed worst to best). Nearly six out of 1,000 live born babies die here in their first year. In Japan it is 2.21 babies out of 1,000. In Cuba it is 4.83. Cuba?

The CIA says that a baby has a better chance of surviving its first year if born in Cuba instead of the United States? Well, better dead than red. ...

And, as for life expectancy at birth, the CIA ranks us 50th (yes, number 50) out of 221.

You can find similar data in other sources. They are quite uniform, and show us to be uniformly inferior across all measures but one: cost. We win, by a large margin, on money spent per person. In U.S. health care we are paying for prime steak and getting a hot dog. Ah, says Mr. Ambrose, that is a tube steak, the best in the world.

Go here to read the rest:
Numbers speak volumes in assessing US health care

Written by Lyndsey Sager Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:27

Danielle Flowers, sophomore fashion design major, does the model’s make up behind the scenes of the Multiple Sclerosis Benefit Fashion Show, March 28. Photo by Chelsae Ketchum.

The Exquisite Inc. Modeling Troupe raised $500 for Multiple Sclerosis research at the fourth annual MS Benefit Fashion Show Wednesday night.

The theme of the show was eccentric sensation, which includes styles similar to Lady Gaga, said Jazmine Woods, freshman news major and Exquisite model.

The show, which took place in the Student Center Ballroom, included collections from six designers and dances from AFOE and Legacy, two dance teams at Kent State.

Tickets were $5 in advance, or $10 at the door. All proceeds went to the Kym Sellers Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis.

We dont get 10 percent or 5 percent, Woods said. Absolutely all of the money will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.

Cory Froomkin, junior broadcast journalism major, hosted the event.

This is the type of stuff I kind of want to do one day, Froomkin said. I know when I anchor one day, Ill have to do stuff like this so its good practice.

Diamond Towns, junior marketing major and Exquisite president, said Exquisite Inc. also hosts a Fall into Fashion show during fall semester.

Continue reading here:
‘Eccentric sensation’ fashion show raises money for Multiple Sclerosis research

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DARTMOUTH Hundreds of people from Dartmouth and surrounding communities are coming together Sunday, April 1, for Walk MS, presented by Biogen Idec & lan, to help individuals and families address the challenges of living with multiple sclerosis. Organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the three-mile route starts and finishes at Dartmouth Middle School, 366 Slocum Road.

Check-in opens at 9 a.m., and the official start is 10 a.m. Walk MS is a fundraising event that provides MS education, support, advocacy, and services to people affected by multiple sclerosis, while it supports cutting-edge research and treatment to stop disease progression, restore function lost, and end MS for future generations.

Each walker, 12-years-old and above, is required to raise at least $25. T shirts are awarded for at least $100 in fundraising, but historically walkers easily average above $200. Family members and coworkers are encouraged to form teams who walk and fundraise together in support of a loved one with MS.

Teams and individual walkers can register online, http://www.walkMSgne.org, to take advantage of e fundraising tools. Registrations are also accepted by phone, 1-800-344-4867 opt. 2, and in-person on walk day. Volunteers are also needed. Send questions about walking, fundraising, or volunteering to walkMSgne@nmss.org.

Donations in support of walkers and teams may be made online, at walkMSgne.org. Click on ‘Donate’, select “Massachusetts, Dartmouth ‘Donate/ePledge’”, and enter the individual or team you want to support.

Of the many sponsors that make Walk MS possible each year, their most loyal and generous are Biogen Idec & lan, EMD Serono & Pfizer, Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture, Data Associates, Patients Like Me, WCVB TV5, Honest Tea, and Pure Protein. Visit http://www.walkMSgne.org for details.

Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-FIGHT-MS (344-4867).

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Dartmouth walks toward a world free of Multiple Sclerosis

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April is Parkinson's Awareness Month-Parkinson Society Canada Encourages Canadians With Parkinson's to Get Active, Get …

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Rates of dementia are set to triple in Australia by 2050 but people still aren’t doing enough to prepare for care, a new report warns.

In a discussion paper given to the state government, Alzheimer’s Australia NSW estimates the number of Australians diagnosed with dementia will rise from 280,000 to around 943,000 by 2050.

Of these, 303,500 people will be from NSW.

But despite the prevalence of the disease, the report said only 55 per cent of people in NSW have a will and less than 20 per cent of Australians have recorded their wishes for end-of-life care.

John Watkins, CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia NSW, said people were often leaving it too late, placing added burden of family and friends.

‘This is not a topic that we as a population generally like to talk about,’ he said in a statement.

‘And we know from our members that many don’t talk about it until it is too late.’

The report, which surveyed 77 carers, patients and service providers, found that people were confused about where to access information and didn’t understand the differences between legal documents, such as power of attorney or advance care directive.

‘These are consistent with what we hear from our clients and members in our day-to-day work,’ Mr Watkins said.

In response, Alzheimer’s Australia NSW has made many recommendations, including the need for a national awareness campaign promoting planning ahead.

Read more here:
Dementia planning left too late – report

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RATES of dementia are set to triple in Australia by 2050 but people still aren’t doing enough to prepare for care, a new report warns.

In a discussion paper given to the State Government, Alzheimer’s Australia NSW estimates the number of Australians diagnosed with dementia will rise from 280,000 to around 943,000 by 2050.

Of these, 303,500 people will be from NSW.

But despite the prevalence of the disease, the report said only 55 per cent of people in NSW have a will and less than 20 per cent of Australians have recorded their wishes for end-of-life care.

John Watkins, CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia NSW, said people were often leaving it too late, placing added burden of family and friends.

“This is not a topic that we as a population generally like to talk about,” he said. “And we know from our members that many don’t talk about it until it is too late.”

The report, which surveyed 77 carers, patients and service providers, found that people were confused about where to access information and didn’t understand the differences between legal documents, such as power of attorney or advance care directive.

“These are consistent with what we hear from our clients and members in our day-to-day work,” Mr Watkins said.

In response, Alzheimer’s Australia NSW has made many recommendations, including the need for a national awareness campaign promoting planning ahead.

The report comes as new figures from Deloitte Access Economics NSW released today found that the electoral divisions of Tweed, Port Macquarie and Myall Lakes will have the highest rates of dementia respectively in the state by 2050.

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Dementia rates set to triple

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Alzheimer’s Australia is calling on the federal government to implement a national awareness campaign calling on all Australians to have a health care plan set in place for when they can no longer manage it themselves.

WITH dementia rates set to soar, it is imperative more Australians plan for when they can no longer manage their health care, end-of-life care, or financial affairs, a new report says.

Only about 55 per cent of Australians have a will, and an even smaller proportion have recorded their wishes in legally binding directives about nursing, guardianship, or power of attorney arrangements.

The report, by Alzheimer’s Australia, calls on the federal government to implement a national awareness campaign about planning.

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It also wants general practitioners to take a bigger role in providing patients, especially those in the early stage of dementia, with information about the importance of ”putting things in order” while they have the capacity to express their wishes.

The organisation wants to make it a condition of access to nursing homes, and some in-home aged care services, that such arrangements have been made.

”This is not a topic that we, as a population, generally like to talk about,” the chief executive of Alzheimer’s Australia, John Watkins, said. ”And we know from our members that many don’t talk about it until it’s too late.”

The report reveals a looming dementia epidemic for NSW, with the number of people with the condition set to increase from 95,000 to 303,500 by 2050. A separate analysis shows the electorates expected to be most affected include Tweed, Port Macquarie, Myall Lakes, Bega, Wyong and Port Stephens, with projected increases of up to 400 per cent.

Recent interviews with carers, people with dementia and service providers showed they did not understand the value of planning, did not know where to access information, and did not receive support from GPs and health professionals to do so, the report says.

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Time to act as dementia crisis looms, says report

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Dementia Patients Still Facing a ‘Postcode Lottery’ on Treatment, Says Stephen McPartland MP

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A DEMENTIA epidemic could be on the horizon for the northern region, as new figures suggest the number of people living with the condition will explode by 283 per cent within the next 40 years.

Statistics released today by Alzheimers Australia NSW predict the Tamworth electorate will have the greatest number of people with dementia in the region, and the 23rd highest prevalence in the state, by 2050.

In the Tamworth area, 1101 people have dementia a figure expected to rise by 218 per cent to 3504 in 2050.

The number of people with dementia in the Northern Tablelands is anticipated to grow from 1124 this year to 3030, an increase of 269 per cent.

Barwons population will have 2304 people living with dementia in 2050, a 257 per cent increase from this years figure of 897.

Across NSW, the number of people living with the condition is expected to more than triple, from about 95,000 to more than 300,000.

Alzheimers Australia NSW chief executive officer John Watkins said the trend was driven by demographic changes.

The general population in both the state and northern region was getting older, he said, so more people would develop the condition.

The older you get, the higher the chance you have of getting dementia, Mr Watkins said.

People who live to 85 have a one-in-four chance of getting dementia.

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Dementia statistics set to triple for Tamworth

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