In most parts of the world, people are living longer, and this
means that diseases that affect elderly people are becoming
more common. In 1991, 11.6% of the Canadian population was aged
65 or over. This is expected to rise to 16% by 2016, and to
about 23% in 2041.
Among the diseases of aging, few are more devastating than
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Dementia
involves the deterioration of a person’s memory, followed
by other aspects of intellectual, emotional and cognitive
functioning. These diseases are relentlessly progressive,
and eventually reach the point where patients become incapable
of caring for themselves and even unable to recognize close
family members.
The Canadian Study of Health and Aging was was undertaken
between 1991 and 2001, and involved over 10,000 elderly Canadians.
It has collected information on dementia and on a wide range
of other health topics.
Because these conditions are so important, we have planned
this web site to include information from the study that will
be of interest to the general public. As of July 2002, however,
this part of the site is not ready, so in the meantime you
are referred to the part written for researchers.
Click here for more information
on the study.
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