University of California at San Francisco Offering Free Internet Videos on Neurodegenerative Disorders

By Richard Shank, Staff Writer

Researchers from the Memory and Aging Center at The University of California at San Francisco have set up a web-based educational video channel. The videos shown here are intended to educate patients, caregivers and health professionals about the various forms of neurodegenerative diseases. These videos are part of an effort by the Memory and Aging Center to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of dementia.

The Memory and Aging Center set up this YouTube channel in order to engage a broad audience on the basic facts behind the development of all forms of dementia. This includes Alzheimer's Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Huntington's Disease and Parkinson's Disease with Lewy Bodies, which all share common features. They all are illnesses in which normal proteins are misprocessed.

This internet channel contains a wide variety of videos that are organized in playlists. The playlists contain videos categorized by subject matter with some overlap as various videos touch on a variety of related themes. The subjects include: Alzheimer’s Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and overview videos of dementia.

The videos are wide-ranging and provide an overview of the underlying scientific foundation of dementia, as well as the common diagnostic problems with the various types, and related caregiving issues such as tips for sitting up in bed for a Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease patient.

For more information, see the internet channel at http://www.youtube.com.