Latest news with #HenryBrodaty
ABC News
4 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Calls for major dementia investment
Annie Guest: From movie star Bruce Willis to football hero Steve Mortimer and former US President Ronald Reagan, dementia doesn't discriminate. Or does it? Did you know the devastating disease that costs the economy billions and is on track to be the leading cause of death is likely influenced by things like exercise and food. Experts are calling for a big increase in funding for research into both prevention and treatment of dementia, which can affect movement, thinking, memory, language, mood and behaviour. Henry Brodaty is a Scientia Professor at UNSW and a world expert on dementia. Professor Brodaty, your address to the Press Club this week began with the story of 52-year-old Jacob. Who was Jacob and how did he influence you to work in this field? Prof Henry Brodaty: Jacob was my father. He was 52 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Very bright man, very sociable, active, successful in business and it was very tragic to see his decline over the next seven years until he died of a heart attack aged 59. Annie Guest: Professor Brodaty, what's known about whether dementia rates are getting worse, better or unchanged? Prof Henry Brodaty: If you look at the absolute rates, they're going up and they're going up because the population is aging. So we have now one in six of our population aged 65 or over and that's approaching one in four over the next generation. However, if we look more closely at the number of new cases, per 1,000 in each age group, there may be a drop and the reason is we're getting better at looking after our hearts. Annie Guest: Well, indeed, you've talked about things we can all do to lower dementia risk like healthy diets and exercising our bodies and brains and being socially connected. How firm is the evidence that these things can prevent dementia? Prof Henry Brodaty: Our trial showed that it can improve cognition, coaching with physical activity, nutrition, brain training, depression, anxiety treatment was highly significant in improving cognition. Whether we can actually prove that the number of cases of dementia will be fewer, we need a longer follow-up. Annie Guest: Dementia is on track to be Australia's biggest killer. You're calling for the big increase in funding for treatment and research and you also say that some things that are proven to help and be cost effective in treating our Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are not properly funded. What are examples of these proven interventions? Prof Henry Brodaty: Well, look at what can happen after diagnosis. People can have what's called cognitive stimulation therapy, groups of maybe eight people meeting twice a week or once a week and getting stimulation and showing that their cognition does improve. Good research from the UK on that. Cognitive rehabilitation therapy. So if I've got dementia, but there are some things I can't do, things that I can't send my emails or I'm having trouble remembering how to do the cooking, which I love to do. If we can work usually with an occupational therapist to work out strategies to overcome those deficits, to compensate, then we can show and there have been good studies, again from the UK, showing that cognitive rehabilitation works. We know that physical exercise can have an effect on slowing the rate of cognitive decline. With research, we can get better services as well, not just about drugs and about causes. We've been very passionate about introducing dementia navigators to help people with dementia and their family carers navigate the very complex system of aged care. Annie Guest: And this is an idea that is a little similar to the breast cancer nurses, is that right? Prof Henry Brodaty: That's right. And we did some modelling of this with PricewaterhouseCoopers and showed that this would be at least cost neutral, if not cost saving. The cost of having the dementia navigators will be offset by reduction in hospital admissions and later admission to nursing homes, which more than covers the cost of hiring the navigators. Annie Guest: Professor Henry Brodaty, thanks very much for joining PM. Prof Henry Brodaty: Thank you very much. Annie Guest: And that's UNSW's Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty.
The Advertiser
23-07-2025
- Health
- The Advertiser
Brain expert champions national fight against dementia
Dementia patients receive "too little" from governments but there is light at the end of the tunnel for the disease, a leading scientist says. Brain expert Henry Brodaty made the case for dementia research at the National Press Club, saying funding for the disease lags cancer and heart disease despite being projected to become Australia's biggest killer. About 430,000 Australians live with dementia, which costs the economy about $3.7 billion each year. "With only $166 million in funding, (it's) too little for what Australia needs," Professor Brodaty said on Wednesday. "It's time for a national movement for brain health, backed by research, scaled with urgency, and funded to save lives and money." One of these schemes came from a dementia prevention trial led by the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing, where Prof Brodaty is a co-director. It found personalised coaching in areas such as physical activity and nutrition pushed back the onset of dementia by more than a year. The researcher called for the government to adopt a national dementia risk reduction program, similar to the centre's personalised coaching model. He said the scheme would shave billions of dollars off treatment and care costs, as the coaching delays onset and slows progression. It comes as more older Australians are staying in the workforce, meaning supporting cognitive health is a "smart economic strategy" as patients would be kept in the office for longer. He also said about half of all carers are sacrificing up to 60 hours per week to look after their dementia patients, and by nationalising the program it could keep carers working. The professor also called for more research into the brain health of athletes after their sporting careers, with concussions from contact sports such as rugby and boxing potentially contributing to a higher risk of dementia. While safeguards were in place, Prof Brodaty said more research needs to be done into athletes' lives after sport. Sportspeople can go through "great periods of depression" after their career, he said. "People who have had depression are likely to have dementia ... I should emphasise these are relative risks," Prof Brodaty said. "Not everyone with hearing loss will get dementia, not everyone with diabetes will get dementia, or obesity, but they are at an increased (risk)." The federal government launched a national dementia action plan in 2024, providing eight recommendations based on findings from the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing. The recommendations include improving dementia treatment and diagnosis, supporting carers and tackling stigma. Dementia patients receive "too little" from governments but there is light at the end of the tunnel for the disease, a leading scientist says. Brain expert Henry Brodaty made the case for dementia research at the National Press Club, saying funding for the disease lags cancer and heart disease despite being projected to become Australia's biggest killer. About 430,000 Australians live with dementia, which costs the economy about $3.7 billion each year. "With only $166 million in funding, (it's) too little for what Australia needs," Professor Brodaty said on Wednesday. "It's time for a national movement for brain health, backed by research, scaled with urgency, and funded to save lives and money." One of these schemes came from a dementia prevention trial led by the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing, where Prof Brodaty is a co-director. It found personalised coaching in areas such as physical activity and nutrition pushed back the onset of dementia by more than a year. The researcher called for the government to adopt a national dementia risk reduction program, similar to the centre's personalised coaching model. He said the scheme would shave billions of dollars off treatment and care costs, as the coaching delays onset and slows progression. It comes as more older Australians are staying in the workforce, meaning supporting cognitive health is a "smart economic strategy" as patients would be kept in the office for longer. He also said about half of all carers are sacrificing up to 60 hours per week to look after their dementia patients, and by nationalising the program it could keep carers working. The professor also called for more research into the brain health of athletes after their sporting careers, with concussions from contact sports such as rugby and boxing potentially contributing to a higher risk of dementia. While safeguards were in place, Prof Brodaty said more research needs to be done into athletes' lives after sport. Sportspeople can go through "great periods of depression" after their career, he said. "People who have had depression are likely to have dementia ... I should emphasise these are relative risks," Prof Brodaty said. "Not everyone with hearing loss will get dementia, not everyone with diabetes will get dementia, or obesity, but they are at an increased (risk)." The federal government launched a national dementia action plan in 2024, providing eight recommendations based on findings from the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing. The recommendations include improving dementia treatment and diagnosis, supporting carers and tackling stigma. Dementia patients receive "too little" from governments but there is light at the end of the tunnel for the disease, a leading scientist says. Brain expert Henry Brodaty made the case for dementia research at the National Press Club, saying funding for the disease lags cancer and heart disease despite being projected to become Australia's biggest killer. About 430,000 Australians live with dementia, which costs the economy about $3.7 billion each year. "With only $166 million in funding, (it's) too little for what Australia needs," Professor Brodaty said on Wednesday. "It's time for a national movement for brain health, backed by research, scaled with urgency, and funded to save lives and money." One of these schemes came from a dementia prevention trial led by the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing, where Prof Brodaty is a co-director. It found personalised coaching in areas such as physical activity and nutrition pushed back the onset of dementia by more than a year. The researcher called for the government to adopt a national dementia risk reduction program, similar to the centre's personalised coaching model. He said the scheme would shave billions of dollars off treatment and care costs, as the coaching delays onset and slows progression. It comes as more older Australians are staying in the workforce, meaning supporting cognitive health is a "smart economic strategy" as patients would be kept in the office for longer. He also said about half of all carers are sacrificing up to 60 hours per week to look after their dementia patients, and by nationalising the program it could keep carers working. The professor also called for more research into the brain health of athletes after their sporting careers, with concussions from contact sports such as rugby and boxing potentially contributing to a higher risk of dementia. While safeguards were in place, Prof Brodaty said more research needs to be done into athletes' lives after sport. Sportspeople can go through "great periods of depression" after their career, he said. "People who have had depression are likely to have dementia ... I should emphasise these are relative risks," Prof Brodaty said. "Not everyone with hearing loss will get dementia, not everyone with diabetes will get dementia, or obesity, but they are at an increased (risk)." The federal government launched a national dementia action plan in 2024, providing eight recommendations based on findings from the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing. The recommendations include improving dementia treatment and diagnosis, supporting carers and tackling stigma. Dementia patients receive "too little" from governments but there is light at the end of the tunnel for the disease, a leading scientist says. Brain expert Henry Brodaty made the case for dementia research at the National Press Club, saying funding for the disease lags cancer and heart disease despite being projected to become Australia's biggest killer. About 430,000 Australians live with dementia, which costs the economy about $3.7 billion each year. "With only $166 million in funding, (it's) too little for what Australia needs," Professor Brodaty said on Wednesday. "It's time for a national movement for brain health, backed by research, scaled with urgency, and funded to save lives and money." One of these schemes came from a dementia prevention trial led by the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing, where Prof Brodaty is a co-director. It found personalised coaching in areas such as physical activity and nutrition pushed back the onset of dementia by more than a year. The researcher called for the government to adopt a national dementia risk reduction program, similar to the centre's personalised coaching model. He said the scheme would shave billions of dollars off treatment and care costs, as the coaching delays onset and slows progression. It comes as more older Australians are staying in the workforce, meaning supporting cognitive health is a "smart economic strategy" as patients would be kept in the office for longer. He also said about half of all carers are sacrificing up to 60 hours per week to look after their dementia patients, and by nationalising the program it could keep carers working. The professor also called for more research into the brain health of athletes after their sporting careers, with concussions from contact sports such as rugby and boxing potentially contributing to a higher risk of dementia. While safeguards were in place, Prof Brodaty said more research needs to be done into athletes' lives after sport. Sportspeople can go through "great periods of depression" after their career, he said. "People who have had depression are likely to have dementia ... I should emphasise these are relative risks," Prof Brodaty said. "Not everyone with hearing loss will get dementia, not everyone with diabetes will get dementia, or obesity, but they are at an increased (risk)." The federal government launched a national dementia action plan in 2024, providing eight recommendations based on findings from the Centre of Healthy Brain Ageing. The recommendations include improving dementia treatment and diagnosis, supporting carers and tackling stigma.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Tackling dementia: New approach urged
Urgent action is needed to fight the 'darkness' of dementia, as the deadly condition threatens to affect 850,000 Australians by 2058, a leading brain researcher has said. Dementia is estimated to cost Australia's economy $18bn each year, a figure that will more than double to $37bn in 25 years. But Professor Henry Brodaty spoke to the National Press Club on Wednesday about the need for a new approach to tackling brain health. He said tackling the syndrome would increase productivity in Australia, and delaying the effects of it would allow people to work longer, especially as the workforce ages. A new approach was needed with increased investment to become a world leader in preventing or delaying dementia onset, he said. 'Think about the slip, slop, slap for skin health,' he said. 'We need the slip, slop, slap of brain health, now. 'Funding for dementia has lagged behind cancer and heart disease, even though it contributes more to disease burden. 'Research is critical to find the best ways to provide services efficiently.' He said dementia develops in Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders at 2-5 times the rate of the rest of the population, and suggested steps to counter this. 'Better care before, during and after pregnancy, and in early childhood, and particularly more education, could make a difference to this,' he said. Professor Brodaty said personalised coaching programs improved brain cognition, and increased people's fitness — pushing back the onset of dementia by a year or more. He said this could save Australia billions. 'Imagine what the return on investment would be if Australia did this?' he asked. 'Improving fitness, not only would improve cognition, it would improve fitness, physical, mental and social health.' But Professor Brodaty said Australia's National Dementia Action Plan has only $166m in funding, 'too little for what Australia needs'. 'I sympathise with the government, because there's always competing priorities and there's always other things that can be funded,' he said. 'But, when it makes sense economically, as well as personally to people, then why not do it?'
The Guardian
23-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Slip, slop, slap for brain health': Australia needs a major prevention campaign for dementia, doctor says
A 'slip, slap, slop'-style preventative campaign is needed for dementia, as new research shows cases of the disease could be delayed with no added cost, a leading doctor has told the National Press Club on Wednesday. In the speech titled 'Hope Beckons', Prof Henry Brodaty, a co-director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at the University of New South Wales, said there was much more Australia could be doing to help prevent dementia in its ageing population by addressing risk factors that can be managed, such as poor diet. Australia has a 'very proud record of prevention' when it comes to health, such as the 'slip slap slop' and 'life be in it' campaigns, as well as smoking reduction and heart health awareness, Brodaty said. 'But we don't have an awareness in our community we can do the same thing for dementia, where half the risk factors for dementia is caused by environmentally modifiable factors that we can all do something about. 'We all have the power to do more exercise, to keep our brains active, keep socially connected. We can monitor and treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol. We can compensate for hearing loss. We can try to avoid obesity. We can reduce the risk of diabetes and head injury. We can live in environments free of air pollution. We can not smoke and avoid excess alcohol.' Brodaty told the press club 'We need the slip, slop, slap of brain health now.' Sign up: AU Breaking News email The National Dementia Action Plan 2023–2034 was released, but $166m in funding is too little for what Australia needs, he said. 'Where are the navigators to guide patients and families after a diagnosis? Think about breast cancer … We can do this too in dementia, and it can be cost neutral,' Brodaty said. A study on which Brodaty was senior author, published on Wednesday in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, found that CHeBA's internet-based dementia prevention program tailored to an individual's risk profile shows cost-effectiveness for improving cognition and reducing dementia risk. Between 2018 and 2021, the trial followed 6,104 Australians aged 55 to 77 without dementia but who carried at least two modifiable dementia risk factors such as being overweight or suffering from anxiety. CHeBA's 'Maintain Your Brain' online had coaching modules for four of these factors: physical activity, nutrition, cognitive training, and depression or anxiety. Half of the participants were assigned to the online program, where they were allocated between two to four of the modules depending on their dementia risk profile, while the other half of participants in the trial (the control group) were given access to curated but freely available information sheets regarding dementia risk reduction. After three years, the researchers analysed the differences in costs for both the direct healthcare that participants received and the program costs, and the effectiveness (cognitive outcomes and dementia risk) between the two groups. They found the participants who received the online coaching showed significant improvements in cognitive performance and greater reductions in dementia risk compared with those who received general health information alone. The difference was highly significant, which would have a 'major effect' at a population level, delaying the onset of dementia, Brodaty said. 'Every year that we can delay the onset of dementia reduces the prevalence of dementia by 10% because it pushes the disease to later in life.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion They also found there was no significant difference in cost per person over the trial period because those who participated in the program used fewer healthcare resources which offsets the cost of delivering it. The researchers noted that the online program would become cheaper per person in future because some research and development costs had already been borne. The researchers also acknowledged limitations within the study: the participants were primarily Caucasian, better educated than average and had a higher socioeconomic status than the general population. They also noted risk-reduction practices may reap greater benefits in higher-risk populations. As the study, they said, considered short-term measures of effectiveness only, 'the true long-term cost savings will only be known if the sample is followed long enough to identify whether cases of incident dementia are prevented'. Prof Scott Ayton, a director in dementia research at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, who was not involved in the research, said 'evidence accumulated over the past decade indicates that lifestyle and risk factor-targeted prevention strategies can meaningfully lessen dementia risk'. 'The large Maintain Your Brain trial stands as a leading exemplar, showing that straightforward, cost-effective, risk-factor targeted interventions can delay onset or reduce overall risk without adding pressure to the health budget,' Ayton said.
News.com.au
23-07-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Australia needs more investment in dementia research to tackle productivity losses, leading researcher says
Urgent action is needed to fight the 'darkness' of dementia, as the deadly condition threatens to affect 850,000 Australians by 2058, a leading brain researcher has said. Dementia is estimated to cost Australia's economy $18bn each year, a figure that will more than double to $37bn in 25 years. But Professor Henry Brodaty spoke to the National Press Club on Wednesday about the need for a new approach to tackling brain health. He said tackling the syndrome would increase productivity in Australia, and delaying the effects of it would allow people to work longer, especially as the workforce ages. A new approach was needed with increased investment to become a world leader in preventing or delaying dementia onset, he said. 'Think about the slip, slop, slap for skin health,' he said. 'We need the slip, slop, slap of brain health, now. 'Funding for dementia has lagged behind cancer and heart disease, even though it contributes more to disease burden. 'Research is critical to find the best ways to provide services efficiently.' He said dementia develops in Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders at 2-5 times the rate of the rest of the population, and suggested steps to counter this. 'Better care before, during and after pregnancy, and in early childhood, and particularly more education, could make a difference to this,' he said. Professor Brodaty said personalised coaching programs improved brain cognition, and increased people's fitness — pushing back the onset of dementia by a year or more. He said this could save Australia billions. 'Imagine what the return on investment would be if Australia did this?' he asked. 'Improving fitness, not only would improve cognition, it would improve fitness, physical, mental and social health.' But Professor Brodaty said Australia's National Dementia Action Plan has only $166m in funding, 'too little for what Australia needs'. 'I sympathise with the government, because there's always competing priorities and there's always other things that can be funded,' he said. 'But, when it makes sense economically, as well as personally to people, then why not do it?'
