The Good News, The Fake News &Dementia
Check out the sources of claims about dementia cures
Where can you get reliable sources of information about dementia and care?
What does “Noel” mean? It might just mean “Christmas” or even “Christmas song.” Who can remember the old Christmas carol The First Noel? It says that, according to the Bible story, the news of the birth of a king in a lowly stable marked out by a star was first told by spectacular angels in the night sky to “poor shepherds” in a field. You must wonder if anyone believed them when they got back home that day. What they did, even though they must have been terrified, was go and examine the scene for themselves. We know this is as a fact from the nativity plays and experience of the demand for small children in vaguely middle eastern outfits topped off with a kaffiyeh fashioned from a bit of cloth and a circle of cord to represent the goat’s hair igal that an Arab man is imagined to wear. Putting aside any worries about historical costume accuracy, the point is that the shepherds thought the news important enough to check it out with their own eyes, never mind how showy the announcement.
Finding the truth
If someone is telling you something remarkable, you must check the authority of the person telling it. Especially in these days when there is so much fake news. When even a world leader goes on TV spouting nonsense about how COVID might be killed by shining a light inside the body and pronounces that he’s been cured by a drug that science knows makes no difference, we all know that everything needs to be checked out. Some things are harder to check up than others.
Especially difficult for dementia
Why might that be especially hard in the case of dementia? It is because people affected by dementia, and their families and friends are desperate for there to be a cure. Media outlets know this, and they are desperate to be first with the scoop that announces that breakthrough. So, stories of breakthrough medicines get reported long before the medicine has been tried on humans. When some important scientific knowledge is discovered, those reporting it make a leap into speculation about it being a cure. The scientists themselves do not recognise or believe the reports about their work. In 2021 there has been a long running battle about a drug that many argue makes no difference to people with dementia, even though it has been approved in the US by the FDA apparently against scientific advice.
There is even difficulty getting information about services. If you are finding that hard, check out my website and book for advice about signposts to information that you can trust and interventions that really make a difference.
If you would like more information, you can buy my book Dementia, the One Stop Guide or Care Homes: When, Why and How to Choose a Care Home. I am available for consultancy for families or organisations. And if you have any further queries or questions, or suggestions for something you’d like to see me write on, please contact me via the Contact Page
See my new course on Dementia the One Stop Guide on Policy Hub here
Find out about Carers and Caring: the One-Stop Guide here and preorder NOW
