Written By David Gomez, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
STRATHROY — Caregivers, seniors and community members gathered at the Holiday Inn in Strathroy on January 8 for a free Alzheimer’s awareness event hosted through the VON Middlesex-Elgin Alzheimer’s Community Support Program, with a focus not only on understanding dementia, but also on sustaining the people who provide care day after day.
Laura Domingos, program coordinator with VON Alzheimer Community Support and Friendly Visiting Services, opened the afternoon by introducing the keynote speaker, Dr. Jennie Wells, a geriatric medicine specialist affiliated with London Health Sciences Centre and Western University. “We are very honoured to have Dr. Jennie Wells with us here joining us today,” Domingos told attendees, calling the session “very enlightening and educational.”
Wells began by inviting the audience into the conversation, asking what people most wanted to understand and making it clear the afternoon would be guided by their concerns. “What do you want to know and talk about?” she asked, as hands went up around the room.
Part of that discussion centred on how Alzheimer’s is increasingly understood as a long process that begins well before visible symptoms. “The disease starts […] 15 years before the first symptom appears,” Wells said, describing an early period when changes can be subtle and easily dismissed as part of normal aging. She referenced screening tools such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a widely used test that helps clinicians identify cognitive changes. Still, Wells cautioned that scores are only one piece of the picture. “I don’t treat numbers. I treat human beings,” she said, emphasizing the importance of real-life functioning, education level, and the specific patterns of change families notice.
Wells walked attendees through how different areas of the brain can shape different symptoms, including memory, language and visual-spatial processing. She described variants where language becomes a primary challenge, and others where navigation and depth perception shift, sometimes affecting everyday tasks long before a person stops recognizing loved ones.
Questions from the audience moved from biology to practical decision-making. When asked whether Alzheimer’s is hereditary, Wells replied, “Yes and no,” explaining that some genetic factors increase risk without guaranteeing disease. She pointed to research suggesting exercise can reduce amyloid burden even in people with genetic risk. “Part of my prescription is walking half an hour five days a week,” she said.
Medication also came up, including commonly prescribed drugs such as Donepezil. Dr. Wells explained that existing medications may help symptoms but do not stop progression. Newer treatments aimed at amyloid are emerging, including Lecanemab, which she described as “disease modifying,” while noting access and eligibility are evolving in Canada.
In response to a question about statins and dementia, Wells emphasized the importance of weighing the risks and benefits, particularly for stroke prevention. “Association does not imply causation,” she stated, adding that stroke prevention is important because dementia in older adults is often mixed, involving both neurodegenerative and vascular factors.
Wells also addressed Lewy Body dementia, highlighting hallmark features such as fluctuations and detailed hallucinations, and offered caregiver strategies that focused on dignity and control. Rather than issuing commands, she encouraged offering choices: “Try to empower them… in simple ways.”
Near the end of the discussion, the conversation turned to preventable risk factors and inflammation—including sleep apnea and viral illness. “Untreated sleep apnea (…) can increase your risk of heart attack or strokes,” Wells said, adding that it can also affect the biology tied to Alzheimer’s progression. On infection-related risks, she offered blunt advice: “Get your vaccines.”
Throughout the afternoon, the room’s questions kept returning to the same theme: understanding the disease is crucial, but so is supporting the caregiver—not as an afterthought, but as part of care itself.
