Author Archives: Maureen
Reading: Cuts to council care support agreed
Cuts to council care support agreed
By Linda Fort
April 07, 2011
Social workers in Reading will begin the task of reassessing elderly and disabled people receiving care following a decision by councillors on Tuesday last week.
People with moderate needs currently receiving care will be reassessed and if their needs have not increased to critical or substantial levels they will lose their support from the council.
The full council also agreed a new charging policy for day centres which will see £4.90 a day charges to some users dropped altogether while others could see that charge go up to £43.
DNA Changes Affect Age Of Dementia Onset, UK
DNA Changes Affect Age Of Dementia Onset, UK
Article Date: 07 Apr 2011
Exciting research which sheds light on the processes that take place during early onset dementia was revealed at an event in London.
Dr Emma Jones from Kings College was speaking at a research roadshow hosted by Alzheimer’s Society.
Dr Jones has found that it is not just changes within specific genes that can affect the age that a person develops dementia but that changes outside of these genes may also be important. She found that if a small section of DNA was present close to the Alzheimer’s associated gene, APP, then individuals developed dementia earlier.
Anti-stroke drug ‘available later this year’
Anti-stroke drug ‘available later this year’
A new blood-thinning pill capable of preventing thousands of strokes a year could be available to up to a million patients later this year, cardiologists hope.
They are describing Pradaxa as the “holy grail” of blood-thinning drugs and the first major pharmacological breakthrough for people at an increased risk of having a stroke in 50 years.
Up to 1.2 million people in Britain live with a condition called atrial fibrillation (AF) – having a quick and irregular heartbeat – which puts them at an increased risk of stroke. The heart condition accounts for 14 per cent of the 150,000 strokes that happen annually, or more than 20,000 a year.
