China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Contexts
Published in Emmanuel Tsekleves, John Keady, Design for People Living with Dementia, 2021
Emmanuel Tsekleves, John Keady
Age poses an additional challenge in reaching a diagnosis of dementia. This is because the oldest-old are the fastest growing segment of the population and have the highest rates of dementia. However, the diagnosis of dementia in this age group is further complicated by naturally occurring age-related phenomena such as sensory losses, medical co-morbidities, over-medication use and frailty (Brumback-Peltz et al., 2011). On the other hand, diagnosis of dementia in younger age groups – also known as ‘early onset dementia’ – is equally challenging as its symptoms are not easily associated with the condition (Rossor et al., 2010). The challenges faced by individuals living with early onset dementia and by those who support and care for them are different due to the stage of life that is interrupted by the diagnosis and the duration of the disease course (Lambert et al., 2014). For this group of younger people living with dementia, employability, current family dynamics and presentation of dementia symptoms can intensify experiences and increase stress for them and their families (Roach et al., 2016). Indeed, it can take over one and a half years longer to be diagnosed for people living with early onset dementia as compared to people over the age of 65 (Greenwood and Smith, 2016). This questions whether the same clinical and neuropathological criteria used for the diagnosis of dementia on older populations can be applied for on the oldest-old populations as well as in younger populations (Slavin et al., 2013).
Associations of bedroom temperature and ventilation with sleep quality
Published in Science and Technology for the Built Environment, 2020
Jing Xiong, Li Lan, Zhiwei Lian, Richard De dear
More than 30% of the time people spend indoors is spent on sleep (How et al. 2015). Sleep is essential for the body to recover from both physical and psychological fatigue accruing throughout the day, and to restore energy to maintain bodily functions. Normal human sleep cycles between rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep repeatedly throughout the sleep period. The NREM sleep is further divided into three stages: N1, N2, and N3. In healthy adults, sleep typically begins with stage N1 and progresses through deeper stages like N2 and N3 before the first occurrence of REM sleep (Opp 2009; Lan et al. 2017). A recent study by Walker (2017) indicates that a lack of deep sleep is linked to early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. An earlier study (Xie et al. 2013) also suggests that the restorative function of sleep may be a consequence of the enhanced removal of potentially neurotoxic waste products that accumulate in the awake central nervous system. It is generally acknowledged that disturbed nocturnal sleep causes next-day drowsiness and lack of concentration, exerting negative effects on occupational performance (Cappuccio et al. 2011; Miyata et al. 2013; Telzer et al. 2013).