Women and Dementia - Not forgotten ILC-UK

ILC-UK recently (31 Aug 2011)��published a report calling for a gendered approach and response to dementia at the national and international level. The report posits that women will disproportionately bear the burden of dementia in terms of numbers, but also impact in the coming years. The ‘feminization of ageing’ is a widely recognised trend and yet hitherto a comprehensive approach to the impact of dementia on women remains largely under explored.Invariably women and men as they age, share many of the same fundamental needs. Yet, as is acknowledged in many parts of the world, older women are particularly vulnerable and are subject to prolonged inequalities experienced since childhood, for example, lower levels of education and a greater risk of poverty. This report assumes a life course approach to the challenge of dementia and women, arguing from a global perspective that women face a ‘triple jeopardy’ as a result of the associated stigma attached to their age, gender and decline in cognitive functions. ILC-UK make a number of recommendations for improving outcomes and interventions for women, which include: 1. Dementia health policies and programmes should incorporate a gender dimension in their design, delivery and evaluation2. Gender should be included as a key health determinant in the promotion and disease prevention of dementia3. Dementia research at the regional, national and international level needs to be disaggregated by gender and age4. Women and men should be equally represented and involved at the micro and macro level of decision-making with regard to the development of health and social care policies and resource allocation as they pertain to dementia5. There is a need for greater interdisciplinary research incorporating the biological and social models of health for men and women to improve health interventions and outcomesDownload the full pdf report here��

Smoking offsets the metabolic benefits of parental longevity in women: the CoLaus study.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether subjects with long-lived parents show lower levels of cardiovascular risk factors, including the metabolic syndrome. METHODS: We analyzed data from a Swiss population-based sample (1163 men and 1398 women) aged 55-75 years from Lausanne. Participants were stratified by number of parents (0, 1, 2) who survived to 85 years or more. The associations of parental longevity with cardiovascular risk factors and related metabolic variables were analyzed using multiple linear regressions. RESULTS: Age-adjusted metabolic syndrome prevalence varied from 24.8%, 20.5% to 13.8% in women (P<0.05) and from 28.8%, 32.1% to 27.6% in men (not significant) with 0, 1 and 2 long-lived parents. The association between parental longevity and metabolic syndrome prevalence was particularly strong in women who had never smoked. In this group, women with 2 long-lived parents had lower Body Mass Index and smaller waist circumference. In never-smokers of both genders, mean (95% CI) adjusted High Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol levels were 1.64(1.61-1.67), 1.67(1.65-1.70) and 1.71(1.65-1.76) mmol/L for 0, 1 and 2 long-lived parents (P<0.01), respectively. The trend was not significant in former and current smokers. CONCLUSIONS: In women, not in men, parental longevity is associated with a better metabolic profile. The metabolic benefits of having long-lived parents are offset by smoking.

Christians, Muslims, Jews, and their religions

Depending on the context, Christians, Muslims and Jews have constructed their own religion, perceived the religions of others, and articulated relations between religions in different ways. This paper examines the rise in history of the three communities, which came to identify themselves through their religions and have been highly sensitive to differences. It indicates common features and parallels of which adherents may have been more or less conscious. The central question in such research is what persons and groups mean in particular situations when they call themselves Christian, Muslim or Jewish. The variety of personal and group identities in the three religious communities has been concealed partly by religious leaderships concerned with the survival of their flocks, and partly by the use of the general concepts of Christianity, Islam and Judaism with which believers have been called to identify. These concepts have shut people into separate religious pigeonholes and could thus be used to support ethnic, social and other rivalries. This pigeonholing has also confronted more spiritually-oriented people with problems of social identity, religious belonging and spiritual authenticity.

Diversity and Unity of islam in Europe. Some Reflections

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) This volume embodies an uptodate and sensitive set of studies exploring the ongoing negotiation of European Muslim identities in Europe. The Editor argues there has been hitherto a three-fold response on the part of Muslims in Europe (some of whom are now 3rd generation Europeans) - integrationism, isolationism, and escapism. Today the latter two responses are giving way, it is argued, to an active shaping of Muslim European identities. The central issue remains: what degree of freedom and what potential for cultural and religious diversity can minorities have in an outwardly secular and plural European society?

Reflections on the West

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) This book provides in-depth discussions of Islamic thought across the twentieth century, encompassing the breadth of self-expression in Muslim communities world-wide. It explores key themes in modern Islamic thinking, including the social origins and ideological underpinnings of the late nineteenth- early twentieth-century Islamic reformist project, nationalism in the Muslim world, Islamist attitudes towards democracy, the science of Islamic economics, Islamist notions of family and the role of women, Muslim perceptions and constructions of the West, and aspects of Muslim thinking on Christians and Jews

Religious identity and intercultural dialogue

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) In a world society ruled by economic globalisation, by political interests and theories such as Huntington's «clash of civilisations» that widen the gap between the North and the South, the question should be asked of the role of the religion. To what extent religion and politics can work together? Can faith still be thought as a means of saving the world? Considering that Christianity, Islam and Judaism have much in common, this collection of miscellanies wonders if these religions can join their forces for public benefit. Senior and junior scholars from all over the world, gathered for an interdisciplinary seminar, analyse the contemporary international relationships and geopolitics through the prism of religion, discussing whether it can provide practical solutions to solve conflicts and increase the respect of human rights.

Zivilgesellschaft, Menschenrechte und Islam

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) Worin bestehen Konfliktpotential und Konvergenzfähigkeit religiöser Minderheiten? Religionen weisen häufig dort Konvergenzen auf, wo ihre Mitglieder einen Lebensraum teilen. Wenn also die Grenzen zwischen den Religionen nicht bereits geographisch festgelegt oder auf andere Weise von vornherein gezogen sind, sondern religiöse Gemeinschaften miteinander Berührungsflächen im Alltag haben, ergibt sich daraus häufig eine kommunikative Dynamik. Sie ist abhängig vom Selbstverständnis der betroffenen Religionsgemeinschaften. Wie wird jüdisches Selbstverständnis durch die jeweilige Umwelt geprägt, insbesondere im Kontakt mit west- und osteuropäischer Kultur? Wie versteht sich das Christentum angesichts einer mehrheitlich nichtchristlichen Umwelt? Wie konkretisiert es sich gegenwärtig in Deutschland in besonderen religiös-kulturellen Ausprägungen und in den Kontexten staatlich regulierter Pluralität? Wie versteht sich der Islam in Abgrenzung gegenüber und in Offenheit für Juden und Christen - vom Rekurs auf die Heilige Schrift her, in der Umsetzung mystischer Religiosität in Organisationen, bei der Konzeption von Bildung? Wie verband und verbindet sich islamisches Selbstverständnis mit europäischen Kulturtraditionen? Was ist hinduistisches Selbstverständnis aus der Perspektive der ,,Unberührbaren" und andererseits aus der Perspektive von Hindus in Deutschland? Wie verbinden sich hinduistisches, tibetisch-buddhistisches und Baha'i-Selbstverständnis mit westeuropäischer Kultur? Verbunden mit welchen Potentialen für Konflikt und Frieden stellt sich das jeweilige Selbstverständnis dar bei afro-amerikanischen Religionen, Hexenreligionen und bei der Rezeption esoterischer Traditionen? Beiträge aus Religionswissenschaft und Theologie, Ethnologie und Orientalistik, Soziologie und Politologie thematisieren Chancen und Probleme der auch in Deutschland zunehmend sich herausbildenden multireligiösen Situation.

Guidelines for the Management of HIV Positive Pregnant Women in Northern Ireland

This guidance aims to support health care staff to provide the optimum care for HIV positive women during pregnancy and delivery within Northern Ireland.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis) immunisation for pregnant women - Factsheet

This factsheet provides information and encourages uptake of the whooping cough vaccine for pregnant women. Cases of whooping cough are on the increase - by getting the vaccine while pregnant you can protect your baby.