Dementias

Dementia is an umbrella term encompassing illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body dementia. These are major mental illnesses afflicting an ever increasing number of older people.

Our department is involved in a number of research studies in dementia including the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, drug trials for Alzheimer's disease and also an examination of dementia following stroke. In addition we have been awarded an NH&MRC program grant to research Mild Cognitive Impairment and its determinants, which began in 2005. This study is called the Memory and Ageing Study and some extra information about this study follows.

The Memory and Ageing Study

Supported by NHMRC Program Grant 350833, Neurocognitive disorders in the Elderly, awarded to Profs Sachdev, Brodaty, & Andrews.

We are conducting research with older adults in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney to determine the rate of memory problems and other mild impairments in thinking in people aged between 70 and 90 selected randomly from the electoral roll. We are interested in following people with mild memory and thinking problems, as well as those who have no such difficulties, over a period of four years to see whose memory and other thinking abilities remain stable, improve or decline and also to find out what predicts change in these abilities. In order to identify risk factors for and protective factors against developing dementia, we are collecting information on participants’ lifestyle, diet, education, physical and psychological health, as well as doing blood tests, genetic tests and brain scans.

As of this month, May 2007, we have interviewed around 800 participants for the research project. We have also conducted approximately 650 blood tests, 300 brain MRI scans and 400 balance assessments as part of the research project. It has now been one and a half years since we started seeing people for the study. At this rate, we hope to meet our final target of 1000 participants by August of 2007.

We do not require volunteers as we are contacting people at random to try and get the most representative group possible from our community.

Contact us
Memory and Ageing Study
Level 1, Building 4
Cliffbrook Campus
The University of New South Wales
Sydney, NSW 2052

phone: (02) 9385 9074
fax: (02) 9385 9061
email: memory@unsw.edu.au


To view some of our research click on the following links (PDF files):