Welcome to 2021 and the first ISLAND Newsletter for the year.  I am Helen Douglas, Project Manager for The ISLAND Project.  The team here at ISLAND have started the new year looking ahead at what we would like to achieve, with your support, during 2021.  We really want to come and visit you and have already started to organise some community visits – we certainly hope we can get out and about more than we were able to last year!

As a population health study, it is important to have a representative sample of the Tasmanian population in our research and we’ll be visiting some areas of the state where our recruitment numbers are a little bit lower. We can also see that we don’t have that many men who are participating in ISLAND so we hope to start working with certain organisations and clubs to make more men across the state aware of ways in which they can try to reduce their risk of dementia. If you don’t mind, we would love for you to talk to men you know that might be interested in participating and contributing to the research! Your help is always appreciated.

We’re also developing an approach that we hope will help us to have more people in the ISLAND Project who do not have much experience or confidence with computers and technology. We do understand that using technology can be a challenge - whenever I spend some time with our 12 year old nephew I quickly realise how technology is changing and that I have so much to learn! We hope to work with a couple of communities to test this approach out and, provided its successful, extend it across the state after that.

One of our main goals over the next 12 months is to recruit a further 8,000 participants to join you in making significant contributions to dementia prevention research across our state. Through information and research opportunities we hope to inspire and empower you to protect your brain health and reduce your risk of diseases that may lead to dementia. We want more Tasmanians to live with healthy brains for longer.  We would love to speak to as many Tasmanians as possible about the ISLAND Project and reducing the risk of developing dementia.  Email us at island@dementia.utas.edu.au if you know of groups or events our project team can visit to raise awareness about dementia prevention and The ISLAND Project.

Our very best wishes to you all for a healthy and peaceful 2021.

The link between type 2 diabetes and dementia

Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia, according to Diabetes Australia.  But is diabetes linked to dementia risk?  Studies suggest that the risk of developing dementia for people with diabetes is twice that of a person who does not have diabetes.  The reasons why this risk increases is not yet fully understood.

What we do know is that type 2 diabetes has been consistently associated with an increased risk of developing dementia; mild cognitive impairment (a condition leading up to dementia); and cognitive decline, which is the progressive clinical symptom of dementia. 

Scientists suggest the following might be why dementia risk increases with the presence of diabetes:

• High blood glucose levels and high levels of insulin can damage the cells of the body and the blood vessels in the brain
• diabetes may contribute to the build-up of proteins in the brain, which can cause the development of Alzheimer's disease

What can you do if you have diabetes to reduce your risk of developing dementia?

• Get you blood sugar levels checked regularly and keep your diabetes in check
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet low in saturated fats and avoid fatty, salty and sugary foods and maintain a healthy weight
• Avoid smoking
• Exercise regularly, at least 30 minutes a day
  

There are some genetic factors that can increase the risk of developing diabetes, so if this is something you can relate to, visit your health adviser to discuss further.

Do you have an important man or men in your life? Please make them aware of the ISLAND Project and our aims.

Currently men make up only 27% of the participants in the ISLAND Project and we’d love to have more males involved. We want to make as many Tasmanian men as we possibly can aware of the range of modifiable risk factors associated with the disease and we hope you will be able to help. Please can you talk to the important men in your life about ISLAND and what we are trying to achieve.

They can get more information about the project and details about how to sign up via this link. Thanks for your help to get this information out to the men across Tasmania. 

Have something to say about dementia in your community?

Dementia Friendly Tasmania wants your thoughts for their ‘Inclusive Wellbeing Initiative’. They are asking community members for feedback about dementia and to offer up ideas about how your community could be more inclusive. The feedback will initially be used to guide a community forum at Kingborough Hub on the 4th of March. Please contact Di at DFTasmania@gmail.com to fill in their survey or for more information.

Dementia Friendly Tas is also organising the Ageing Wonderfully Well Expo in Kettering from 10am to 2pm at the Kettering Community Hall, 2963 Channel Highway on the 19th of Feb. The ISLAND Project will be in attendance, so call in and say hi!  Bring a friend and introduce them to The ISLAND Project!

The University of Tasmania received funding from the Australian Government. Views and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of its authors, and may not be the same as those held by the Department of Health.

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