Do you want to know what the latest news is with regards to research into treatments and cures for Alzheimer's disease and other dementia causing illnesses? Are you tired of searching through website after website on the internet, hoping to find new information about what is happening in Alzheimer's and dementia research? Would you like to read about how other people are dealing with a diagnosis of dementia? If you have answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then you have come to the right place. The dDN network has been designed by someone who for many years was searching the web for the same kinds of things.

My name is Natalie, and I have created this website in honour of my father who battled dementia for just over 12 years. He was diagnosed at age 54 with early onset Alzheimer's disease, although later that diagnosis was changed to Frontotemporal Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type. I think that the doctor was hedging his bets with such a long-winded diagnosis!

The fact is,  I'll never know for sure what type of dementia causing condition Dad had but as he was diagnosed at a young age, and his most predominant symptom was aphasia, and problems with executive thinking, and as Dad did not seem to live in the past, nor have memory problems per se, I think the Frontotemporal part of the diagnosis was correct.

Many people don't realise that dementia causing conditions can be hard to diagnose, nor that other conditions that are not necessarily terminal diseases can mimic dementia. It was no doubt due to the fact that Dad's symptoms were not classic Alzheimer's disease symptoms that I became so adept at searching the internet for more information. My family and I were constantly worried that Dad may have been misdiagnosed, so for the many years of his disease, I searched the world wide web, looking for a better answer.

As I searched I learnt more and more about dementia causing conditions, I met many other people online who were also interested in knowing more about these diseases, I was able to get in contact with my national Alzheimer's Association and participate in a young onset dementia action group, and I also discovered that one of the most comforting parts when living with dementia in your family is when you can find others who are going through similar experiences and share your thoughts and both give and get advice from each other.

That discovery led to this website. The website has been set up so that it is completely free to use, as I feel it is morally wrong to promise help only if it is paid for. That said, there are advertisements on dDN, you can be directed to places that will sell you useful products that can help, and I do have a donations facility in place, but these commercial aspects are only there to help keep the website going and to further assist my readers if they think that a particular service or product offered by my sponsors is going to help them in their daily life with dementia. If you so choose however, browsing this site will not cost you a cent.

I hope that the dDN network will help you find everything you need in your dementia journey, whether that be a sense of community, information on the relevant diseases or caregiving, entertainment and brain exercises, or contacts that will come in handy. I know dementia because I've lived it too. I hope my website helps make your dementia journey a little bit easier.

Best wishes,

Natalie