Scott & White Healthcare Physician to Help Develop Global Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer's

TEMPLE, Texas, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Scott & White Temple Hospital physician Arden L. Aylor, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, is one of three North American physicians who will help in the development and adoption of standard guidelines regarding dementia at the World Health Organization's World Conference in Berlin, Germany on May 17.  Dr. Aylor was selected to participate because he is part of a world panel of the World Alzheimer's Congress. Attendees will include physicians, WHO executives and heads of states in various countries.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100504/DA98670)

Dr. Aylor is trained in family medicine, geriatrics and dementia, and he'll convene with approximately 10 other physicians from around the globe to advance the development and adoption of world-wide protocol for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of dementia.  Dr. Aylor is the director of geriatric medicine and Alzheimer's dementia director for the Center for Geriatric Medicine at Scott & White's Temple Hospital.  

"The world is living longer and dementia has become a growing burden for many countries," said Dr. Aylor.  "While prevention is key, we still must develop and adopt a standard, world-wide, cost-efficient protocol for earlier diagnosis, treatment, and research involving dementia."  

The World Health Organization (WHO) has put Alzheimer's and dementia on its world watch for the upcoming decade, 2010-2020.

"Fifty percent of the world's population aged 80 and older has some form of dementia therefore making this a priority for the WHO," said Dr. Aylor.  "Though we've gotten better at identifying the problem and getting a better picture of dementia, we still need uniform, standard guidelines that everyone can use because not all countries are equipped with the right information to handle this disease."  

Dr. Aylor and the body of physicians from around the globe will designate a list of minimal standards/guidelines for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of dementia that all countries could adopt in the future.  Some of these minimal acceptable guidelines include CT scans for diagnosis, appropriate medications, and home health programs which, according to Dr. Aylor, will be the "most cost effective."

The WHO is currently re-assessing the re-allocation of funding for dementia with regards to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research.  

About dementia

Dementia, according to Dr. Aylor, has 11 forms and involves a loss of multiple components of intellectual function and contrary to popular belief, loss of memory is not the only deficit in dementia. Dementia is generally defined as the "loss of intellectual abilities (medically called cognitive function) of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning" (Source: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association). Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for approximately 60-70 percent of all dementias worldwide, as proven by research studies in developed countries and ongoing investigations in developing countries.

According to the Alzheimer's Association's report released on March 9, 2010, "2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures," 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. African Americans are almost twice as likely as whites to have Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, and Hispanics are about one and a half times more likely to be stricken with it.

About Scott & White Healthcare (sw.org)

Scott & White Healthcare is a non-profit health care system established in 1897. Scott & White is the principal clinical teaching facility affiliated with the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, with a Temple campus that includes a four-year medical curriculum. Along with its 636-bed flagship hospital and clinic facility in Temple, Texas, Scott & White includes nine other hospitals or hospital partners, and 60 clinic locations throughout Central Texas. With more than 800 physicians and scientists, Scott & White has become one of the nation's largest multi-specialty group practice systems.  

SOURCE Scott & White Healthcare

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