Alzheimer Europe publishes new Dementia in Europe Magazine

Update /

Alzheimer Europe has published the 40th edition of its “Dementia in Europe” policy magazine, filled with interesting updates on European and national policy developments in the dementia field, as well as European research projects and other research news.

This edition has been published both electronically and in paper format, and its launch coincided with the first day of the 32nd Alzheimer Europe Conference, (#32AEC) taking place in Bucharest, from 15-17 October 2022.

The first section of the magazine includes an article on brain health. In recent decades, a lot of research has been dedicated to gaining a better understanding of brain health and about how to reduce the risk of dementia – in this section Alzheimer Europe examined two examples of EU-funded projects working in this area, EU-FINGERS and LETHE.

Francesca Mangialasche, Geriatrician and Assistant Professor in Clinical Geriatric Epidemiology at the Center for Alzheimer Research, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden shared her thoughts and experiences and work done in relation to the two projects. In addition, two members of the EU-FINGERS Advisory Board Nick and Mercedes shared their thoughts.

“Preserving good brain health while aging is crucial to most people, as it has a key role in determining individuals´ capabilities and wellbeing.
People wish to maintain their ability to make decisions, cope with their needs, build and maintain relationships, and contribute to society. All of this is largely affected by brain health, which thus becomes a priority.
What we can do, as clinicians and researchers, is to facilitate people awareness and understanding, possibly already at younger age, of factors affecting brain health, focusing on those that can be leveraged on to support brain health across the whole life.”
– Francesca Mangialasche
Tweet

“I am Nick Montague, 67 years old and I am living in Luxembourg. I have direct family experience of dementia and I am very interested by the topic of brain health.
The use of the words “Brain Health” is important as it does not carry any stigma with the use of those words and it’s not threatening in any way. I think in lots of cases with neurological issues, the terms “brain problems”, “Alzheimer’s disease”, “dementia” can be a bit threatening for a lot of people. A position on the Advisory Board is very important to me and I am learning a lot. I think the most important issue to realise is that, it is not just an intellectual exercise for researchers or for people with the disease. I feel by tuning in to the people who have first-hand experience of mental health issues, that it is by putting everybody`s contributions together that creates a solution.”

“I am Mercedes Fernández, 70 years old, living in Barcelona, Spain. I am experiencing some failures in memory and other cognitive functions and this justifies my interest in the brain health topic. Brain health is key for individual and social well-being. Research in this field is hard and the professionals who choose it need and deserve all our support. As a part of the society, it is my duty to respond to questions or requirements that researchers, scientists, can make to us. Researchers are the base of all this work. Thank you for what you are doing and thank you for continuing investigating because our future and well-being depends on you.”
Download the magazine

Sharing is caring!