Many in the media continue to write and therefore spread harmful and hurtful misrepresentations about dementia, stories about the causes, the very inaccurate 'soon to be here' cures, and most of the time, usually using offensive language.
For Day 13 of Dementia Awareness Month 2015, we thought we should talk about one such article, from last week. There has been a lot of confusion about a number of articles from last week, claiming you can catch Alzheimer's Disease, so with their permission, I have added the easily understandable response from Alzheimer's Scotland to this sensationalist and irresponsible journalism.
Today's story on 'catching' Alzheimer's disease
"A study was published today (in Nature) which stated that the protein beta-amyloid was found in the brains of eight people who had been who had previously injected with human growth hormone. It was suggested that these people would have therefore gone on to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The protein was observed in seven of the eight brains examined.
Some of today’s headlines have suggested that people can ‘catch’ Alzheimer’s disease, that it is in some way contagious, or that it can be caught through medical or surgical procedures.
There is no evidence of this.
Alzheimer Scotland are deeply disappointed by the sensationalist and irresponsible nature of much of today’s coverage.
While this study is interesting, it is far too small to draw any conclusions."
Go to their website to read the full response to this irresponsible journalism.
Editor: Kate Swaffer