Guest Speaker Sonie Wilson, counsellor/social worker for Alzheimer’s Australia Vic presented some interesting facts on Dimentia and its associated illnesses. Sonie grew up in North East Victoria, however for the last 25 years has been living in Melbourne. Last year she moved back up here to take the Alzheimer’s Australia position in Albury covering Albury and the Victorian LGAs (local government areas) of Towong, Alpine, Indigo, Wodonga, Wangaratta, and Mansfield. Dementia is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, their behaviour and their ability to perform everyday tasks.Early diagnosis of dementia means early access to support, information and possibly medicines.

Over a period of months or years, most people with dementia gradually:

• lose their memory – at first for recent events, and later for events further back in their lives
• have a personality change
• lose interest in life
• withdraw from their usual activities
• lose their ability to care for themselves and for others around them.

Dementia is an umbrella term that describes a collection of symptoms, not one specific disease. There are more than 100 different causes of dementia. The most common causes are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. Dementia is more common in older people, although it can come on in a person’s 40s or 50s. Dementia is not a normal part of ageing – most older people do not have dementia. If you notice signs or symptoms of what may be dementia in yourself, or in a family member or friend, then it’s important for the affected person to see their doctor. If the person is diagnosed with dementia, then early diagnosis means early access to support, information and possibly medicines. Also there are other conditions, which may be treatable, that produce similar signs and symptoms to dementia. Delaying seeing a doctor may delay effective treatment. Most cases of dementia are not inherited, although it depends on the cause