Tag - dementia

 
 

DEMENTIA

Lecanemab was developed by drugmakers Eisai of Japan and Biogen of the United States.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 15, 2024
European agency switches to recommending new Alzheimer's drug
The committee judged that the efficacy of lecanemab outweighs the risk for some patients.
For patients using donanemab, it will cost them about ¥3.08 million per year. But national insurance coverage will have the government shoulder most of the cost.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 13, 2024
Japan OKs insurance coverage of Alzheimer's drug donanemab
Donanemab became the second Alzheimer's drug that targets causative deposited plaque in the brain to win the coverage after lecanemab.
Ryuichi Takai holds an orange-colored "dementia help mark" during its unveiling event in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, on Sept. 21.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2024
City in Aichi Prefecture creates 'dementia help mark'
The mark is designed to signal that the holders may need help and consideration.
A scientist looks at brain scans of a patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease in Geneva in 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2024
Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
For defenders, the drugs represent a real chance to fight the disease. For detractors, they are a disappointment after a long line of costly failures.
Public awareness and support for people with dementia has significantly improved in Japan over the years, but the long-term sustainability of such support systems is a concern, experts say.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 20, 2024
Dementia advocates worry public attitudes preventing diagnosis
Eighty percent of the public thinks dementia is a normal part of aging, meaning the need for correct diagnosis and care is possibly being neglected.
Elderly pachinko players at Day Service Las Vegas, a casino-themed day care service in Yokohama, in August
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024
Pachinko-style gambling is helping seniors’ brains in Japan
Bolstered by evidence that playing the pinball machines can help prevent dementia, some businesses are now tailoring services in a bid to revive growth.
The government's new proposed plan for supporting dementia calls for a society in which people with dementia can continue to live as they like in places where they are used to living.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2024
Japanese government to promote 'new perception of dementia'
The number of dementia cases is rising due to the rapid graying of the Japanese population.
The government is expanding subsidies for the use of robotics by nursing care facilities to reduce the burden on care staff amid a chronic labor shortage.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 25, 2024
Japan to expand nursing care robot introduction support
The government is working to reduce the burden on care staff while maintaining the quality of care services by utilizing robots.
U.K. authorities have approved lecanemab, a novel Alzheimer's drug developed by Eisai, making Britain the first country in Europe to greenlight the drug.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2024
Britain OKs Eisai's novel Alzheimer's drug lecanemab
The United Kingdom is the first country in Europe to greenlight the drug.
Health minister Keizo Takemi fields questions from reporters in March after a Cabinet meeting to deal with health problems caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni kōji red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024
Health Minister Keizo Takemi on how to improve Japan's health care system
Digitalization, hiring high-skilled foreign workers and increasing wages are among the steps that Japan could take.
In the past 11 months, health minister Keizo Takemi has been charting his own path, seeking to make Japan's health care policies more global and digitalized.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024
Global mindset crucial for reform of Japan's health care, minister says
International strategies and domestic health care reform are inextricably linked, says health minister Keizo Takemi.
A health ministry panel has approved Eli Lilly's donanemab drug for Alzheimer's patients.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2024
Japan's health ministry set to approve second Alzheimer's drug
Donanemab, developed by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has been backed by a ministry panel.
A scientist looks at scans at the Memory Center at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital in Geneva on June 6, 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024
A blood test accurately diagnosed Alzheimer’s 90% of the time, study finds
A team of researchers reported that a blood test was significantly more accurate than doctors’ interpretation of cognitive tests and CT scans in signaling Alzheimer's.
The latest research indicates that heat stress is likely to worsen the condition of people with Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for over half of all dementia cases in Japan — by making them more irritated or exacerbating their cognitive decline.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Boiling Point
Jul 29, 2024
For aging Japan, a troubling link between heat and dementia
The latest research indicates that heat can exacerbate cognitive decline and worsen dementia symptoms.
Leqembi, which was developed by U.S. multinational Biogen and Japanese-based Eisai, is the brand name of an active substance called lecanemab, which is used to treat adults with mild memory and cognitive problems resulting from the early stages of the common type of dementia.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 27, 2024
European medicines watchdog rejects Eisai's new Alzheimer's drug
The watchdog said the risks of side effects, including potential brain bleeding, outweighed the benefits.
When the effects of dementia cause Yohji (left, Tatsuya Fuji) to spiral out of control, it becomes clear to his son (Mirai Moriyama) that he has been absent from his life in more ways than one in Kei Chikaura’s “Great Absence.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2024
‘Great Absence’: Poetic family drama follows downfall of dementia-plagued patriarch
A retired professor’s mind is slipping away from him, but there is more to unravel in Kei Chikaura’s dark family drama.
Municipalities across the country have been devising various ways to keep track of the whereabouts of individuals with dementia.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2024
Record 19,000 people with dementia reported missing in Japan in 2023
The figure is nearly twice that of a decade earlier, according to the National Police Agency.
About 1 to 1.8 out of 1,000 people in Japan are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2024
Japan researchers develop drug to visualize Parkinson’s disease in living patients
The study could help better our understanding of such neurodegenerative diseases, for which there are currently no cures.
Artificial intelligence is being utilized to detect dementia at an early stage, such as through analyzing characteristics seen in the way people with dementia walk.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 5, 2024
AI tools to detect dementia under development in Japan
The health ministry thinks that about 11.97 million people will have dementia or mild cognitive impairment in Japan in 2040.
Researchers at Tokyo's Juntendo University investigated whether an SGLT2 inhibitor, a drug that promotes sugar excretion through urine, could remove aging cells by administering it to obese mice for a week.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 31, 2024
Diabetes drug shows promise for aging-related illnesses in mice study
The Juntendo University study shows an SGLT2 inhibitor successfully eliminating senescent cells, which accumulate with age, in the mice's visceral fat.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?