Around 110,000 Taiwanese suffer from Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative disorders, according to a survey released by the Taiwan Alzheimer's Disease Association yesterday.
The survey showed that 5.26 percent of people aged 65 or over suffer from a degenerative disorder. Each year, another 5,800 people develop degenerative disorders, and at this rate it is expected that by 2025 the number of sufferers will double to 220,000.
Chiu Ming-zhang (
"As well as affecting the quality of life of Alzheimer's patients, this also places a tremendous burden on their families," Chiu said yesterday at a forum held to discuss diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's and other memory disorders ahead of World Alzheimer's day on Wednesday next week.
Diagnosis is key to improving the quality of life of Alzheimer's patients, said Tang Li-yu (
"Through treatment, the rate of their deterioration can be slowed down and they can enjoy a better quality of life," said Tang, who encouraged families of Alzheimer's patients to join support groups, and for Alzheimer's patients to participate in activities which stimulate brain functions, such as playing mahjong or singing karaoke.
Chiu cited studies which show that the amount of education one receives or the amount of time one devotes to educational practices over a lifetime is inversely related to the likelihood of the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
Chiu said that by devoting time to study, neural connections are established which can act as substitutes in the event of memory loss when other neural pathways cease functioning.
In this regard, Tang cited a slogan from an Alzheimer's association in Australia: "Use it or lose it!"
When asked about possible preventative measures, Chiu said that although nothing lessens the risk that increases with age, there are measures that can be taken to lessen the likelihood of specific types of memory loss related to blood vessel functions.
This type of memory loss is caused by the hardening of blood vessels, which is in turn related to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and smoking, Chiu said.
If these potential health difficulties are kept under control while one is still young, then the "chances of being picked in the lotto," as Chiu put it, drop significantly.
Taiwan has been a member of Alzheimer's Disease International since last year. This year, nine of Taiwan's cities and counties will participate in World Alzheimer's Day events on Sept. 17.
In Taipei, events will be held in the Da-an Forest Park, including a walking activity led by Department of Health officials, musical performances by Alzheimer's patients and their families and free health checks.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS