From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 24 2003 - 11:34:02 EST
February 24, 2003 == FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Calvin College will partner with Project Healthy Senior Michigan to host a
important aging conference on March 19 at the college's Prince Conference
Center.
The "Aging Well" conference will help health professionals learn how to
promote health and prevent disease in older adults, strategies that will
ultimately improve quality of life and reduce health care costs for a large
segment of the U.S. population. It also will have a track aimed at assisting
and educating laypeople, both seniors and their caregivers.
Dr. David Snowdon, one of the world's leading authorities on Alzheimer's
disease, will be the keynote speaker, kicking off the conference at 9 am on
March 19. Snowdon, a neurology professor at the University of Kentucky, will
discuss findings from his landmark Alzheimer's research project, known as the
"nun study." (See http://www.mc.uky.edu/nunnet/)
Snowdon's 2001 book, Aging With Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About
Leading Longer, Healthier and More Meaningful Lives, is the result of research
he began in 1986. He has studied 678 nuns from the School Sisters of Notre
Dame. Each sister gave Snowdon unprecedented access to her personal and medical
histories and each pledged to donate her brain after death to his research.
Snowdon's ongoing study, with the largest pool of brain donors in the world,
has yielded groundbreaking information about Alzheimer's prevention and living
productive lives well into old age.
Findings from the Nun Study have been featured on The Today Show, CNN,
Nightline, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Newsweek and
National Geographic and published in such scientific journals as the Journal of
the American Medical Association, American Journal of Epidemiology and the
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In addition to Snowdon's talk there will be breakout sessions for both
laypeople and professionals.
Topics for laypeople will include:
*Who is Caring for the Caregiver?
*How do I get started with an Exercise Program and Prevent Injury?
*Behavior after a Stroke
*Exercise for Older Adults
*Cooking for a Few Instead of a Crew
Topics for health professionals will include:
*Anemia of Chronic Disease
*Understanding Diabetes
*Treatment for Depression
*Spirituality of Aging
*Age-Related Vision Changes
For more information, contact Julie Walton, Calvin professor of health
education, at jwalton@calvin.edu or 616-526-6164 (note: Calvin's phone numbers
are switching from 957 to 526)
For registration info, schedule and more see
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/pe/conference/index.htm
-end-
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