dementia

As the proportion of seniors in our population steadily rises, so will the need for geriatric psychiatry, says Dr. Soham Rej, a CIUSSS psychiatrist. He believes digital technology can help cope with the growing demand, but only if the human element remains intact.

When those with advanced dementia are receiving care that’s meant to maximize comfort, what should be avoided? Transferring them to a hospital, tube-feeding them, and testing or treating them for a bacterial infection, a U.S. geriatrics expert has told a JGH audience.

In 2005, the world adopted the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a simple, yet refined, questionnaire that had been developed by Dr. Howard Chertkow, founding director of the JGH Memory Clinic.

Rates have risen dramatically in our push to screen elderly hospitalized patients for delirium. This means their underlying medical conditions can be diagnosed more quickly, with better odds of lowering their risk for functional or cognitive decline.

Researchers in the Lady Davis Institute are among investigators from across Canada who will share in new federal funding of $2.5 million for research into various types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

In the ongoing fight against dementia, a research team in the Lady Davis Institute, is looking at electro-magnetic stimulation as a method of targeting the illness through the brain’s electrical impulses.

Dr. Jaclyn Madar has joined the JGH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Elevated levels of a particular protein, known as Capase-6, in a specific area of the brain can serve as an early indicator for the onset of the type of cognitive impairment that is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Canadian Institutes for Health Research, in collaboration with a network of public and private partners, has established a Canada-wide network of researchers—with headquarters in the Lady Davis Institute at the JGH—to tackle dementia and related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.