Dr Muna Al-Jawad is a geriatrician who is also a superhero – Old Person Whisperer.  She will emerge from her secret base in the Barry Building to illuminate some of the scientific mysteries of old age. Together with other comic book Super-geris (Mythbuster, Brainiac Boy and Telemed Girl) she will explore the following questions:

How old is “elderly”?
How can you tell the difference between ageing and disease?
Why are older people more susceptible to illness?
What are the new treatments for the diseases of old age?
Is there an elixir of youth and would you drink it?
 
The management of dementia represents one of the gravest challenges to health and social services in the developed world. Increases in life expectancy are leading to ever-increasing numbers of individuals with dementia. Without effective treatments for the diseases causing dementia the burden of dementia to patients, families and society will become unsustainable. Recent years have witnessed a belated awareness of the scale of the problem and there is now a national strategy aimed at improving dementia care.

The ultimate aim is to find curative or preventative treatments. Central to this aim is the evolving awareness of the diseases causing dementia, each with different biological and clinical signatures. This increased understanding of disease has already led to the development of drugs that may have the potential to modify the disease and trials of these drugs are currently underway worldwide.

We in Brighton are proud to participating in these international studies. As the search for effective treatments progresses, it is imperative that there is greater awareness among public, patients and health professionals of dementia, the underlying diseases and management options. This global change in perception of dementia is critical if we are to benefit from the very real possibility of cure for these diseases.

Wednesday 29 February
7pm
The Audrey Emerton Building, Eastern Road (opposite the Royal Sussex County Hospital), Brighton, BN2 5BE
Ages 18+
FREE, but please reserve your place on 01273 664936 or hospitalfriends@lineone.net