Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 7 February 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Health Needs of Persons with Dementia and the Services Available: Discussion
9:30 am
Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
The witnesses mentioned the role of alcohol in relation to dementia. I have a friend who discovered wine late in life. For some reason, he was drinking pints for most of his life but he discovered wine late in life. It was the strength of the wine that was the issue. He was told that if he did not cut back on it, the early stages of dementia would get worse and worse. There are all sorts of triggers out there. We mentioned trauma and stress but that does not necessarily happen. Deputy Gino Kenny spoke about intergenerational dementia. Some people say it runs in families. It does not run in others. Perhaps one member of a family may have it. The fact that we are living longer also presents a challenge.
One of the asks for this committee is to find out about the register the regional health areas. Is there anything else we can do as a committee, following today's meeting? I am not excluding members, who may have other questions. Is there a particular ask that the witnesses have of us?