In honour of World Alzheimer's Day on 21 September, the City of Brussels and the non-profit organisation Ligue Alzheimer have partnered to raise awareness and break stereotypes surrounding the disease.
The day will be commemorated with a series of events around the city including the lighting up of Brussels City Hall in purple, the official colour of Alzheimer's, tonight at 20:00.
A forgotten and stereotyped disease
The disease, along with other forms of dementia, currently affects around 212,000 Belgians.
"Alzheimer's is a disease that we link with forgetting, but which itself is too often forgotten," the City of Brussels' stated. Yet, one in five Belgians is at risk of developing the disease: a number that is expected to rise by over 33% in the next ten years with the country's rapidly ageing population.
Alzheimer's disease is also incorrectly viewed as a disease that only impacts the elderly, and effectively ends their life. Sabine Henry Gössing, the President of Ligue Alzheimer, wants to combat this stereotype: "Alzheimer's is a chronic and profound disease, but you can live with it. Today we want to break the stereotype of the helpless Alzheimer's patient. I know plenty of people with the diagnosis who still have and achieve many of their dreams."
One such man is a 48-year-old marathon runner who continues to run despite his diagnosis. On Thursday morning, he met with Brussels Mayor Philippe Close and President of the CPAS of the City of Brussels, Khalid Zian, and invited them to tie a knot in a handkerchief – a symbolic gesture to show that Brussels will not forget people afflicted by Alzheimer's.
Tweet translation: Today is World Alzheimer's Day. With this post @AlexiaBertrand_ supports the fight against dementia. Will you be taking part too? Let's show together that we don't forget anyone with dementia.
The City of Brussels has previously committed to becoming more inclusive to people with dementia. Last year, the city signed the European Charter 'Dementia Friendly City' to actively facilitate a better quality of life for people afflicted with the condition.
Scientific breakthroughs
Although there is currently no cure for Alzheimer's, there have been many recent breakthroughs in the understanding of both the disease and possible treatments, many of which were advanced by Belgian scientists. This year alone saw many encouraging breakthroughs.
In April, scientists at the University Hospital of Liège (ULiège) were the first to successfully grow mini-brains to test Alzheimer's treatment.
In July, a team at UCLouvain's Institute of Neuroscience made significant progress in our ability to diagnose Alzheimer's before death.
Researchers at KU Leuven then gave old killifish (which age in a similar way to humans) a mix of two drugs in August, and found that one of them significantly rejuvenated the fish's brain.
Related News
- Belgian research with fish opens way to new Alzheimer's treatments
- Scientists in Belgium grow 'mini-brains' to treat Alzheimer's in world first
- Groundbreaking discovery in Alzheimer’s disease made by Belgian researchers
In September scientists at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain and Disease Research announced further understanding of the cause of neurone cell death in Alzheimer's patients, which could pave the way for development of effective medication.
Finally, on Thursday morning Belga News Agency reported that initial promising results from a phase 2a trial of an Alzheimer's vaccine, developed by the Alzheimer's Research Foundation, experts from the University Hospital of Leuven (UZ Leuven) and the Flemish Dementia Expertise Centre.
